A Captain's Heart
by Charlie28
Summary: From the line of the captains of Erebor, Luna has come to help her king reclaim the lonely mountain and fulfil her family's duty by protecting the heirs of Durin. But when living with a company of dwarves and confronted to the perils of their journey, the girl's heart, grieved by a dark past, will be assigned yet another much more difficult task when met with a young dwarf prince.
1. Prologue

_**Hi Everyone, so this is my very first fan fiction! After reading quite a few, I decided it was time I wrote one myself and as I am a big fan of the Hobbit (and of Tolkien's books in general), here is a story taking place in that universe. I am writing in English but I am not an English native speaker nor do I live in an English-speaking country so please, I am doing my very best but if you see mistakes in my text, don't be mad at me, I will be more than happy to correct them!  
>I will follow the movies now that I have seen all three of them.<br>I do not own any of Tolkien's characters nor his universe, the only things that are mine are the characters Luna and her family.  
>I hope you enjoy it, please let me know what you thought of it!<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Prologue<span>**

"Here's the mail!" Frodo said, setting the letters down on his old uncle's desk.

Bilbo seemed upset as if he had just been interrupted while he was having one of those moments of fun that only he seemed to understand and that sometimes worried his nephew.

"Thank you" he replied quite dryly.

Frodo didn't look like he wanted to leave him be without having a look at what he was doing though which made his uncle sigh in exasperation. Why was this young hobbit always so curious and stubborn? Why did he have to be so much like him when he was younger?

"What's this?" he asked with a little smirk on his face, taking an old portrait of Bilbo.

"That's private, keep your sticky paws off!"

Just as Bilbo was taking the portrait from him to put it in the book he had been writing in, another smaller piece of parchment fell from underneath it to the ground and Frodo automatically picked it up before he could hide it away as well.  
>It was another portrait of someone the young hobbit had never seen before. For a short instant, the words he had been about to tease his uncle with didn't pass his lips as he stared at the beautiful face of a young woman whose eyes managed to captivate him even though they were only drawings.<p>

"Uncle, who is that?" he asked, the smile returning to his face."Was this your girlfriend?"

"Give that back to me! It's none of your business!"

Bilbo abruptly took the portrait to put it in his book with the other and Frodo tried to catch a glance of the pages his uncle had been writing.

"It's not ready yet" the last exclaimed.

"Ready for what?"

"Reading."

The young hobbit decided it was better to give up and just shrugged his shoulders before walking away to a closet where he was only half surprised to find a huge helmet that had probably been part of an armour long ago, one of the odd things his uncle kept in Bag-End.

As the day of his one-hundred-and-eleventh birthday was getting closer, Frodo couldn't help but thinking that Bilbo was getting even odder than before, refusing to see anyone and spending his hours alone writing his book or losing himself in the contemplation of old maps and parchments. When he was a young boy, his uncle had often told him the stories of his adventures and although he was personally convinced that some of them had purely come from his imagination, he still remembered all the tales. While he had always enjoyed listening to them and had imagined more than once that he too would one day have such stories to tell, he thought that these days, Bilbo's behaviour was almost worrying.

He shook his head to clear it from these thoughts and instead, remembered that a very old friend was going to arrive for the birthday party and that he had to go and meet him. That friend, who was no other than Gandalf the Grey Wizard, had accompanied his uncle in many of his adventures and knew hims better than anyone. If there was someone able to understand what was going through the old hobbit's head, that would most certainly be him. Taking a book with him to read in the fields, Frodo quickly took leave of his uncle and ran down the hill of Bag-End to East-Farthern Woods where he knew he would soon meet the wizard upon his arriving to Hobbiton.

Left alone, Bilbo sighted and opened his book again to take out the two portraits. With a little smile, he looked at the one of his younger self, proudly caressing his chin then his eyes fell on the second one showing the face of the young woman.  
>He remembered that night sixty years ago when she had unexpectedly arrived at Bag-End with a company of dwarves that had taken him into their greatest journey across Middle-Earth. Sixty years…He couldn't believe it had been so long already since that bunch of dwarves had invaded his house and forever changed his life.<br>He chuckled to himself as Frodo's innocent question came back to him, "_Was this your girlfriend?_". At the time this portrait had been made, he knew a young dwarf prince who wouldn't have been very happy to hear such a question being asked to anyone else than himself…


	2. An Unexpected Party

**Chapter I : An unexpected party**

That night could have been another tranquil and peaceful one spent reading his favourite books on his armchair besides his fireplace after eating his dinner if it hadn't been for those two dwarves who seemed to have invited themselves inside his hobbit hole.  
>The first one, big and quite scary-looking, had introduced himself as Dwalin then had quickly eaten Bilbo's food without hesitation. While the poor hobbit was watching his fish and chips being devoured, the doorbell had rung a second time and he had found a second dwarf standing in the doorframe, older and looking much kinder than the first one. He had introduced himself as Balin and without further explication, had come in and he and Dwalin had warmly greeted each other while Bilbo had vainly tried to get some explanations about the reason of their presence in his house.<p>

That's when the doorbell rang a third time. Growing more annoyed than surprised, the hobbit walked to the door once more and opened it to discover two much younger dwarves, the one who looked the eldest had blonde hair and bright eyes, his moustache was braided in a dwarfish fashion and the youngest one had dark hair and only stubble.

"Fili", the blonde introduced himself.

"And Kili."

"At your service", they finished in unison with a low bow.

"You must be Mister Boggins!"

"No! You can't come in, you've come to the wrong house!" Bilbo exclaimed.

He tried to shut the door but the dwarf with brown hair, Kili, blocked it.

"What? Has it been cancelled?" he asked, his voice filled with worry.

"No one told us."

"What? No, nothing's been cancelled", the hobbit sighted.

"That's a relief."

And with that, they made their way inside and Bilbo was too stunned to do anything when Fili started handing him all his weapons.

"Careful with these", he told him, "I just had them sharpened."

"It's nice this place", Kili commented, looking around him and taking the mud off his boots by rubbing them on a piece of furniture. "Did you make it yourself?"

"No, it's been in the family for years", Bilbo found himself answering. "Can you please not do that?"

"Fili, Kili, come on, give us a hand", Dwalin piped in, taking the young dwarf by the shoulders to lead him into the dining room.

"Master Dwalin!" Kili exclaimed with a huge smile.

Fili followed them and Bilbo found himself standing on his own in the entry, carrying Fili's weapons in his arms. He was about to follow them as well when his gaze turned to the door that hadn't been closed and he noticed for the first time a third person who had arrived with the two young dwarves and who had remained on the perron.

He opened his mouth to protest against the new person's entrance inside his house but his words got stuck in his throat when his glance met a pair of big eyes staring at him with surprise and -could it be possible?- respect.

He thought at that moment that he had just met the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen in his hobbit's life. They were blue, a deep dark blue the same color as a beautiful night sky and stars seemed to be shining in them. He felt as if they could read his soul and at that very moment, was convinced that he would never be able to lie to them because they would immediately know. There was also something in those eyes that Bilbo couldn't quite put a name on but that seemed to be the witnesses of a hard and sad past.  
>The eyes belonged to a young girl who couldn't possibly be older than the two dwarves who had just preceded her but who, at first sight, looked already much more mature and hardened by life.<p>

She pulled her hood back, revealing luxurious auburn curls that fell down her shoulders and the movement finally made Bilbo leave her eyes to look her up and down in pure astonishment. That's only when he noticed the white moon-shaped scar on her cheek under her left eye and the way she was dressed for travel and carrying at least as many weapons as the four others. He found himself debating whether she was a dwarf or not for she lacked of any facial hair and never had he heard of such beauty amongst the dwarves women but her small size made no doubt she was one of them, and she certainly was no hobbit.

"Master Baggins", she said, "it's an honour to meet you."

"I…the honour is mine…who are you?" he asked, cursing his babbling and trying to shake himself up.

"My name is Luna, at your service", she answered with a respectful bow. "May I come in?"

"Of course…"

He stepped asides to allow her to come in and closed the door behind her. She was polite and seemed to have a lot more manners than the four previous dwarves but her voice was neutral and she didn't smile to him contrarily to the others who all had greeted him with nice smiles -expect for Dwalin.  
>He was about to say something when Kili reappeared from the dining room.<p>

"Luna, are you coming or not? Dwalin and Balin are here!" he exclaimed with a huge grin on his face.

She gave Bilbo an apologetic nod then walked into the dining room as well. 

* * *

><p>Thirteen. There were thirteen dwarves in his dining room eating all his food and laughing merrily. Plus a wizard. The rest of the group had arrived shortly after the young girl. They had been pushing so hard against the door that they fell in a messy pile of arms and legs when he opened it. Behind them had been standing Gandalf, the grey wizard who had visited Bilbo earlier that day. As soon as he had seen him, the hobbit had understood that this idea of a gathering in his hobbit hole could only have come from him.<p>

He looked in despair in his cellar that had been completely emptied.

Bilbo basically spent the night trying to save what could be saved from the dwarves who showed the worst table manners he had ever seen. Gandalf had introduced them all to him : Balin,, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Luna, Oïn, Gloïn, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bofur, Bifur and Bombur, but he had only been able to remember exactly Balin and Dwalin because they had arrived first, Bombur because he was by far the widest person he had ever met, Bifur who had an axe planted in his head and seemed to be only able to speak in Khûzdul and Bofur who was keeping a funny-looking hat one his head even though he was inside. He also remembered the names but always mixed up Fili and Kili and of course remembered Luna who was the only girl amongst them all and was so far the most pleasant unwanted guest. The contrast between her and the others was quite shocking, she remained calm and quiet when they were all speaking loudly and messing around but Bilbo could see some amusement making her eyes shine a bit brighter when the dwarves started improvising a song about himself while -rather dangerously- washing the dishes.

He also noticed how she seemed very close to Fili and Kili and stayed mostly with them although all the others seemed very fond of her as well and, to Bilbo's surprise, didn't seem to find it surprising at all to see a young girl carrying weapons in a company of warriors.

Just as the dwarves' song ended with their laughters and a pile of very clean dishes, a knock on the door quieted them all.

"He is here", Gandalf announced in a low voice.

The dwarves all gathered in the entry and when Bilbo opened the door, a fourteenth dwarf came in. That one didn't look anything like the others : there was no smile on his lips and no amusement in his eyes as he took his fur coat off his broad shoulders. The others looked at him with respect.

"Gandalf", he sighted. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost me way, twice. I wouldn't have found it at all if it hadn't been for that mark on the door."

That was enough for the hobbit who finally exploded.

"Mark?!" he exclaimed. "There is no mark on the door, it was painted a week ago!"

"There is a mark", Gandalf insisted. "I put it there myself. Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

The dwarf folded his arms. He was taller than Bilbo as they all were -maybe with the exception of Luna- and the hobbit couldn't help but find him a bit intimidating.

"So, this is the hobbit. Tell me, master Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

"What?"

"Axe or sword, what's your weapon of choice?"

"Well, I do have some skills at concaves, if you must now, but I fail to see why that's relevant", the hobbit proudly answered.

"Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar."

The dwarves sniggered then followed their leader into the dining room and although he was shocked to have been mocked in his own house by a most unwanted visitor, Bilbo didn't fail to notice that Luna solemnly bowed her head when Thorin passed in front of her and that he answered with a little smile.

At Gandalf's request, Bilbo had agreed to bring Thorin some food and they were all sitting around the table in the dining room while he was eating, questioning him about a meeting that he had attended but the hobbit wasn't really paying attention to the conversation until he saw Gandalf drawing an old parchment out of his coat and put it on the table, revealing a map. As he had always been very fond of those kind of things, this time he paid more attention to what was being said and read over Thorin's shoulder.

"The lonely mountain…"

"Aye", Gloïn said. "Oïn has read the portents and the portents say it is time."

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold", Oïn added. "When the birds of Old return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end."

"What…beast?" Bilbo asked, perfectly aware that he was going to regret his question.

"Well that would be a reference to Smaug the terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age", Bofur explained as if he was talking about the weather. "Airborne fire breather, tears like razors, claws like meathooks. Extremely fond of gold."

"Yes, I know what a dragon is."

One of the youngest dwarves, Ori, suddenly stood up from his seat and banged his fist on the table.

"I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I'll give him a taste of dwarfish iron!"

His brother next to him pulled him back down on his seat but the others cheered until Balin who seemed by far to be the oldest and wisest spoiled the mood.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us", he said. "But we number just fourteen, and not fourteen of the best…nor brightest."

Bilbo couldn't quite disagree with him but the others didn't seem to think that much.

"We may be few in number", Fili exclaimed, "but we are fighters, all of us! To the last dwarf!"

"And you forget we have a wizard in our company, Gandalf would have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!" Kili jumped in to support his brother's argument.

"Well not quite hundreds", Gandalf corrected at once, looking very embarrassed.

"How many then? How many dragons have you killed?"

"Well…I…"

In front of the wizard's hesitation, the dwarves began shouting again and some rose from their seats. Bilbo vainly tried to ask for silence but they only grew quiet again when Thorin himself rose from his seat, shouting a word in Khûzdul.

"If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too?" he asked. "Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years, eyes look East to the mountain, wondering, assessing, weighing up the risk. Perhaps the wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back whilst others claim what is rightfully ours or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?!"

Again the dwarves cheered until Thorin sat back and the mood was set down once again by Balin.

"You forget the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."

"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true", Gandalf said in a mysterious tone, taking a key out of his sleeve.

From the look on the dwarves' faces, and especially on Thorin's when he saw it, Bilbo assumed this key was going to be very important in whatever plan they were going to come up with.

"How came you by this?" Thorin muttered.

"It was given to me by your father, for safe-keeping. It is yours now."

"If there is a key…there must be a door!" Fili exclaimed.

"These runes speak of a hidden passage", Gandalf confirmed, pointing at the map.

"There's another way in!"

"Yes but of course dwarf doors are invisible. The answer lies somewhere in this map and I do not have the skills to erad it but there are others in Middle-Earth who do. The task I have in mind will require stealth…and no small amount of courage. But I believe that if we are careful and clever, it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar!" Ori piped in.

"An expert I'd imagine", Bilbo confirmed. He had gotten really interested in their conversation.

"And are you?" Gloïn asked.

Bilbo looked behind him as if he thought there was someone else the dwarf was talking to.

"Am I…?"

"He says he's an expert!" Oïn shouted.

"No! I'm not a burglar! I've never stolen a thing in my life!"

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Mister Baggins", Balin sighted. "He is hardly burglar material."

Bilbo fiercely nodded.

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves", Dwalin added.

The rest of the table started shouting in approbation and didn't calm down until Gandalf's shadow seemed to grow around him and he shouted in a very dark voice:

"Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar then a burglar he is! Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. They can pass unseen by most if they choose and while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarves, the scent of hobbit is all but unknown to him."

He turned to Thorin.

"You asked me to find the fifteenth member of your company and I have chosen Mr Baggins. There's a lot more to him then appearances suggest and he had a great deal more to offer than any of us know…including himself."

Bilbo had an indignant expression on his face. Not only did a whole company invite themselves into his hobbit hole and eat all his food but now they were debating on whether or not they should bring him alone in a quest to slay a dragon.

"Very well we'll do it your way, give him the contract", Thorin sighted.

Before he could protest, Bilbo was handed a very long contract that he unfolded. His face grew paler as he read its content.

"It's just the usual", Balin said, "pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth."

"Funeral arrangements?!"

While the hobbit was reading, Thorin leant towards Gandalf.

"I will not be responsible for his safety", he whispered to the wizard.

"Understood."

"Nor will I be responsible for his fate."

"Agreed."

Bilbo was now reading the terms of the contrat aloud, a worried expression on his face.

"Present company will not be liable for injuries inflicted or sustained as a consequence, thereof, including but not limited to lacerations….eviscerations…Incineration?!"

"Aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye", Bofur nodded.

"You alright laddie?" Balin asked in a gentle voice as the hobbit was trying to steady his breathing.

"Think furnace with wings", Bofur continued, not realising the effects his words had on the poor hobbit.

"I…I need air…"

"Flash of light, seering pain and poof! You're no more than a pile of ash!"

There was a little moment of silence.

"Nope", the hobbit said and he collapsed to the ground. 

* * *

><p>While Gandalf was speaking with Bilbo who was sitting in his armchair with a nice cup of tea to regain himself, the company was getting ready to spend the night.<p>

"We leave at first light", Thorin announced. "Get some rest, all of you."

He didn't do it but it was clear to them that he could have ended his sentence by "while you can" for none of them really knew where their quest to reclaim Erebor would lead them but certainly not to safe places where they would be able to sleep peacefully every night.  
>Most dwarves were quietly sitting around the house, discussing in low voices or smoking their pipes and Kili went to sit next to Luna who was had quietly sat herself in a corner with Fili.<p>

"So what do you think of him?" he asked her with his usual cheeky grin.

"Bilbo?"

"Yes. He will never sign his contract."

"You don't know that."

"He fainted just by reading it."

"He wasn't expecting anything of what happened tonight. Very few people would have opened their doors to a company of fifteen dwarves carrying weapons and eating all the food. Most would have just kicked us out."

"Who would dare kick Dwalin out of anywhere?" Fili piped in.

That made Kili laugh and Luna chuckle but Fili elbowed them to quiet them when he saw that the warrior had probably heard them and was shooting them a dark look.

"Just give him some time", Luna added. "He needs to sleep on this."

"Still…why do you think Gandalf wants him?"

"I don't know, I had never met this hobbit before tonight but I think we should trust Gandalf."

"Always trust the wizard", Kili smirked, teasing her and she gave him a little kick on the head.

"Are you hitting my baby brother?" Fili asked.

"Will you try to avenge him?"

"I wouldn't dare."

They laughed again.

In the meanwhile, Thorin and Balin had been speaking together a bit apart from the group and the sound of Fili, Kili and Luna laughing caught their attention. Balin couldn't keep himself from smiling when he saw them sitting together and the young girl smiling. The boys were Thorin's nephews, his sister's sons and they really were the only ones who were able to make Luna laugh again.

"Look at them", he told Thorin. "Seeing them like that always reminds me of when they were children."

Thorin nodded.  
>The old dwarf's smile faded after a little while and he turned to his king and friend again.<p>

"Do you think it was a good idea to take her with us?" he asked in a low voice.

"She deserves her place in this company at least as much as anyone else", Thorin answered. "Not only because it is her duty to be here, but because she is a fiercest fighter than many of us and her heart is willing and loyal."

"But she is so young Thorin…"

"Not much younger than Kili. She is not a child anymore and with…what happened…she needs to take the place that is rightfully hers amongst the dwarves of Erebor. I know what she went through but she survived, you witnessed it as well as me, and she wouldn't have let us go without her. It is proof that she is ready."

Balin sighted.

"I hope you're right, lad…I hope you're right."

He didn't say any more words, he had had this conversation with Thorin already and he knew nothing would change the mind of his king but still, every time he looked at the girl, he always remembered the child she was long ago and how she had come back to them a couple of months back then.

They then slowly made their way to where the others had gathered in front of the fireplace and in low voices, they sang the song of the lonely mountain in memory of Erebor.

_Far over the Misty Mountains cold_  
><em>To dungeons deep and caverns old<em>  
><em>We must away, ere break of day<em>  
><em>To find our long-forgotten gold<em>

_The pines were roaring on the height_  
><em>The winds were moaning in the night<em>  
><em>The fire was read, its flaming spread<em>  
><em>The trees like torches blazed with light<em>


	3. Tales by the fire

**Chapter II : Tales by the fire**

As Thorin had announced, the dwarves alongside with Gandalf had left Bag-End as soon as the first sun rays had pierced through the leaves of the tall trees. Bilbo had still been asleep when they had left but assuming he wouldn't come, they hadn't bothered waking him up.  
>Everything in his house had been set back into place and when he would wake up, it would be as if last night had never happened, except that he would find the contract on his desk, waiting to be signed or just thrown away.<p>

As they were riding their ponies in a line on their way out of the Shire, Thorin leading them at the front, Kili turned to Luna at the back of the group and caught her looking over her shoulder.

"You still think he will come?" he asked.

She turned her eyes towards him and shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe. As long as we are still within the borders of the Shire, anything can happen."

The dark haired dwarf watched around him at the others who were taking wages on whether the hobbit would join them or not. Most were sure he wouldn't come.

"You want to bet?" he asked the young girl with a roguish smile. "I bet you ten coins that he won't show up."

"And if he does, not only will you have to give me those ten coins but you will be doing my shores for the two next times it'll be my turn."

"Agreed. "

Fili who had heard the exchange between the two of them smiled. Many years might have passed since they were children together with the girl but when it came to teasing each other, she and her brother looked like they had never grown up.

The company kept on traveling and it wasn't long until Luna heard something arriving behind them and called the group to a halt.

"What is it?" Thorin asked at the front.

"Something is coming."

Indeed, a few seconds later, Bilbo appeared from between the bushes, out of breath.

"Wait!" he shouted, running towards them.

Luna bit her lip to avoid laughing when she saw the expression on Kili's face as he tossed her a little purse with ten coins.

"Looks like she managed to trick you into doing her shores again, brother" Fili smirked.

"Oh, shut up"

"I signed it!" Bilbo exclaimed, proudly passing his contract to Balin who carefully took a look at it.

"Everything appears to be in order", the old dwarf announced, "Welcome, master Baggins in the company of Thorin Oakenshield!"

Bilbo did really look happy with himself.

"Give him a pony", Thorin ordered.

The hobbit's face quickly turned from contentement to concern but despite his protestations, he was quickly mounted on a spare pony and Luna repressed a smile when she saw the look he had on his face.

"Well this is going to be interesting", Kili said.

"You still doubt him? He showed up"

"Anyone can show up. What matters is whether he will be able to stay or not"

"I guess we will find that out soon enough. With all the dangers ahead of us, he will quickly get his chance to prove his worth"

"You are such a motivating kind of person", he teased her.

"I am being realistic. Plus, I have reasons to worry more than you. Shall I remind you that I am supposed to protect you amongst other?"

"I don't see how that could cause worry to anyone, am I not the most careful and reasonable dwarf you've ever met?"

"Then you're the only dwarf I've ever met"

That made him chuckle and as they moved on with the group, he looked at her. He loved to play foolish around her to try and make her smile or even better, to make her laugh. Ô Mahal, how much did he love the sound of her laugh…

* * *

><p>They traveled without encountering any trouble for the next few days, stopping at night to make camp and Bilbo soon realised that most of the dwarves were always in a good mood as if they were traveling to visit distant relations and not to risk their lives against a dragon.<br>Almost all of them already seemed fond of him and always made room for him around the fire when they were eating and he quickly became comfortable around them, especially Balin, Bofur and the youngest ones.

All were heavily armed without exception but at night when they were sitting around the fire, they were all joking and laughing together, often telling stories of their past adventures or tales that were famous amongst their people.  
>Usually, only Thorin, Gandalf and sometimes Dwalin would not take part in their merry discussions, speaking together a bit apart of the group or, in Gandalf's case, simply smoking their pipes in a quieter place. Thorin was also often speaking with Balin who seemed more than the others to be his counsellor and even sometimes, to Bilbo's surprise, with Luna.<p>

The more the hobbit travelled with her, the more questions he wanted to ask her and the first one was : what was a young girl like her doing in the company of Thorin Oakenshield? She was still as nice to him as she had been on their first encounter whenever he talked to her and as the days passed, he even received more and more smiles from her.

One day, as he was riding his pony next to Gandalf and watching her being teased by Fili and Kili as usual, he couldn't stop himself from trying to get some more informations from the wizard.

"Those three seem to be very close", he said.

Gandalf's eyes turned to the three young dwarves ahead of them and a little smile passed his lips.

"Yes. Fili and Kili are Thorin's nephews and heirs, his sister Dis' sons."

"How about Luna? Is she related to them?"

He didn't believe it of course, while Fili and Kili looked similar enough to leave no doubt about their fraternity, Luna did not look anything like them, he just wanted answers to his questions without seeming intruding.

"No, she doesn't share their blood although their families used to be linked in some way."

"Meaning?"

"Luna is from a very ancient and noble line of Erebor. She was a childhood friend of Fili and Kili, the three of them being very close in age."

"How old are they? They look quite young compared to the others…"

"They are quite young indeed for dwarves but old enough to follow the company, do not worry about them, my friend. Fili is eighty-two, five years older than his brother who recently turned seventy-seven and Luna is almost seventy-two if I'm not mistaken" He saw Bilbo's look of surprise. "You did not forget that dwarves have a different life span than hobbits, did you? In dwarf years, they reached the age of maturity."

"Yes…of course…"

The wizard didn't seem to be inclined to pursue their conversation so Bilbo didn't say more and instead, looked at the girl again. He didn't find it hard at all to imagine the three dwarves as children playing around.

That night, they made camp on top of a cliff, a spot that not only offered shelter from the wind thanks to another cliff face behind them but gave them a great view on the surroundings, allowing them to look out for any danger that might come to them.

They loosed the poneys and unpacked their things to get ready for the night and after eating a simple but nice stew made by Bofur, they all wrapped themselves in their blankets to sleep except for Fili and Kili who were on watch and Gandalf who was smoking his pipe a bit farther.  
>After trying to ignore Gloïn's snoring for the good part of an hour, Bilbo gave up on trying to fall asleep and decided instead to take a little walk to where the ponies had remained.<p>

He had grown fond of his own pony and after he made sure no one was looking, gave it an apple he had kept after dinner.  
>The silence of the night was suddenly broken by a long high-pitched scream that made the hobbit startle and quickly walk back to the camp, frightened.<br>He wasn't the only one who had been startled by the screech : Luna who had been lying near the fire next to Fili and Kili, rolled in her blanket, suddenly jumped on her feet, drawing out her twin blades.

"What was that?" Bilbo muttered.

"Orcs" Kili answered in a neutral voice.

"Orcs?" the hobbit repeated, even more afraid, looking into the darkness beyond the cliff.

"Throat-cutters, there'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them", Fili said. Luna raised an eyebrow at him but he didn't notice it: he was too busy exchanging a smirk with his brother as their teasing was working on the hobbit.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone is asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams…just lots of blood", Kili added.

Bilbo's face had paled. Luna seemed about to say something but Thorin had heard the conversation too and didn't seem very happy with his nephews.

"You think that's funny?" he scolded them. "You think a night-raid by orcs is a joke?"

The two brothers looked down at their feet.

"We didn't mean anything by…"

"No you didn't, you know nothing of the world."

Thorin walked away, leaving his nephews with a look of guilt on their faces.

"You deserved this", Luna coldly told them before sheathing her swords and walking away as well to go and sit a bit further.

To Bilbo's surprise, Fili and Kili suddenly looked even guiltier and angry with themselves.

"Don't mind him, lad", Balin suddenly spoke up. He too had been woken up by the orcs' screeches and had witnessed the scene. "Thorin has more causes than most to hate orcs."

Bilbo sat down by the fire, knowing that Balin's stories were always interesting to listen to.

"After the dragon took the lonely mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria…but our enemy had gotten there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs, led by the vile of their race, Azog the Defiler. The Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king…Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief and went missing. Killed or captured, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us… that's when I saw him. A young dwarf prince facing down the pale orc. He stood alone against his terrible foe. His armour rent, wielding nothing but a broken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast nor song that night for our dead lay beyond the count of grief. We few had survived and I thought to myself that day, there is one that I could follow. There is one that I could call king."

The other dwarves had by then also made their way to the fire and were listening to the old dwarf's tale.

"And the pale orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked.

"He slung back to the hole whence it came. That filth died of his wounds long ago", Thorin himself replied.

At this, Gandalf exchanged a worried look with Balin but none seemed to notice.  
>As the dwarves were slowly going back to sleep one by one, there was still something tickling the hobbit's curiosity.<p>

"And…what's with Luna?" he hesitantly asked, seeing that she was still sitting on her own further away and had not come back for the story and remembering how she had jumped to her feet with blades in each hand at the sound of the orcs.

Kili's head snapped towards her and his brother gave him a nod. He stood up and walked to where she was.

"Luna too has reasons to hate orcs", Fili answered the hobbit's questioning glance. "They destroyed her life and tried to kill her."

"What? Why?"

"Hasn't she introduced herself to you?"

"Well…she just gave me her name. Gandalf told me she comes from an ancient family, that's all."

Balin nodded.

"Luna is the daughter of Laïn, a hero amongst the dwarves, a very highly respected dwarf, not only because he was one of Thorin's dearest friends but because he was the last captain of the royal guard of Erebor before the dragon took the mountain."

"There was a royal guard?"

"Where there is a king, there is a guard, laddie. The title of captain passed in their family for generations. Once a captain, you stayed captain until your death and only then did the title pass to your first heir. Laïn was the captain of king Thror when Smaug came. He truly was a great captain and a valuable friend to young prince Thorin. Laïn followed the king and lead our armies into the battle of Moria where he was very badly wounded. So badly actually that when we came back from the battle, Thorin sent him to rest in a hidden valley in the blue mountains where he could heal at peace and look after his children in safety."

"What do you mean in safety?"

"As I said, Azog the Defiler wanted to wipe out the line of Durin. The orcs want the line of the kings of Erebor to die because without a king to sit on the throne, our people will never reclaim the mountain and the orcs want it for themselves but what always stands between them and the kings are the captains. They need to kill the captains to destroy the line of Durin and the fact that Laïn always fought them so valiantly he became one of their fiercest ennemies did nothing to settle the situation. They ended up taking it personally and want to see the captains dead almost as much as they want to see the kings dead."

"What happened to him?" Bilbo feared the answer. The look in Luna's eyes, her apparent hate for orcs,…none of that sounded good to him.

"It took them quite a time but the orcs ended up finding the place where he lived in the hidden valley", Balin sighted. "They surprised him during the night and…well…" The old dwarf really seemed sad. "There were lots of people living in the house : guards, maid, cooks,…all were savagely murdered then the place was set on fire and in the ashes of the house were found Laïn's steel leg, for he had lost his own at the battle of Moria, as well as his and his children's family rings."

Bilbo looked into the fire then gave a quick look to where Luna and Kili were sitting.

"And Luna…was she in the house?" he asked.

"Yes."

"How did she…?"

"We don't know…when the news of what had happened were reported to us, we assumed she had died too, her ring was amongst the others that had been found and then, a few weeks afterwards, she arrived out of nowhere, more dead than alive and it took our healers all their skills and all our prayers to Mahal to keep her alive", Fili answered.

"Has she never talked about it?"

"Those events happened only a few months ago. It took weeks before we were able to sleep peacefully at night without fearing she might be dead in the morning. I am not even sure she remembers everything between the moment the orcs attacked and the moment we found her, I think the trauma she went through made her lose some of the memories. In time she will remember."

Although most of his questions had finally been answered, Bilbo felt more sad than happy after hearing the young girl's story.

"Did her whole family die that night?" he asked, hoping despite everything a good news.

"All that remained of it. Her mother died giving her birth the day Smaug took Erebor. It is the dragon who is responsible for the scar on her cheek. When I look at her, I am always reminded that despite all the deaths that occurred that terrible day, a very promising girl came to the world." Balin said with a little chuckle. "She had two brothers who were already old enough at the time to follow their father to Moria, that's why she stayed with Dis, Fili and Kili when she was a child. The eldest brother died shortly after the battle in an ambush lead by orcs and the second one died with his father a few months ago."

Bilbo slowly nodded.

"So now…is she the captain in her turn?" he asked. "I mean she is a girl…can girls bear the title as well?"

"Well it never happened before…but there is no law against it. The law says that the heir of the previous captain becomes captain in his turn and she is the last heir of Laïn. Her father educated her the same way he did with her brothers, it didn't matter to him that she was a girl. She was his heir as well and he knew he couldn't be certain no harm would ever come to his sons."

"You haven't seen her in a fight yet" Fili added with a smile, "but make sure to watch her when you get the chance. Sometimes both Kili and I are not enough to disarm her."

A little smile passed on Bilbo's lips. He didn't know why but he didn't doubt that for a second.

* * *

><p>In the meanwhile, Kili had followed Luna a bit further and she raised an eyebrow at him when she saw him.<p>

"Luna, we are sorry, that was very stupid of us", he apologised.

She turned her eyes to where Fili had stayed with Bilbo and the others and saw him nodding at her as if to approve what his brother had just said.

"It's alright…but you should know better than speak such words in front of your uncle"

"And in front of you. I'm definitely not the brightest dwarf of this company"

"Sorry, what was that? I am not sure I heard you well…"

That made him smile and she returned it to him.

"I am a very immature and childish dwarf", he added to make her laugh as he sat himself next to her. "Really, I don't know how people cope with me, I myself find it hard to get along with me once in a while."

"Don't overact it, you're not that bad."

"This might be one of the best compliments you ever made me."

She chuckled but at that moment, the orcs' screams were heard again and her body stiffened.

"It's okay", Kili whispered squeezing her knee and taking her hand, "I'm right here".

"This won't do if you start reversing our roles", she said, a shy skill stretching her lips. "I am supposed to be the one who protects you."

"That wasn't protecting, simply reassuring. You may be our captain but I still have the right to reassure you, have I not?"

"Kili…", she bit her lip. "I am not a captain. My father was. We've been through this already."

"You do everything a captain should do and so far you do it brilliantly."

"Only Thorin can be the judge of that."

"I have a feeling he won't hesitate much on that matter you know. You remind him of your father and your father himself was one of his biggest reminders of Erebor. It's almost as symbolic as it is useful to have a captain and after all, if he didn't think you worthy of that title, you wouldn't be here in the company tonight."

"I am not doing all this to become a captain myself Kili, I am doing it because it is my duty to my father. He always used to tell us that a captain is not only someone who bears that title and stands next to the king. A captain is first of all a warrior that is loyal to the royal family no matter what and is willing to give his life for his king. My family has sworn to protect the line of Durin until the last of us has one drop of blood left in his veins. I am here to honour that allegiance, not to get a title."

"I know you are." He paused for a few seconds. "Whatever the reasons, I am happy you are part of this journey."

She gave him another smile but didn't answer. No matter how much she liked being with the brothers again, she would never have been there if her family had not been killed.  
>As a comfortable silence settled between them, Luna felt the sleep creeping up to her and she rested her head on Kili's shoulder who put his arm around her waist.<br>He watched as she slowly fell asleep and didn't long to let the fatigue of the day overcome him as well.

* * *

><p><em>Night had fallen over the blue mountains and everything was silent, mostly because there wasn't that many dwarves living there in small houses especially since lots of them had left the same day to go and take back the mines of Moria from the orcs that had dwelt in them far longer than any respectable dwarf could bear.<em>

_Only those who were too old to fight as well as the few women and children had remained, alongside with some warriors just in case and the departure of the army that had followed their king Thror had grieved them all and set a sad and uneasy atmosphere._  
><em>The dwarves had gone to sleep little by little though and all the candles had been blown in the houses, allowing the quiet darkness of the night to settle in.<em>

_In one of the houses which seemed bigger than the others tough, a little dwarf was lying in bed with his big dark eyes wide open. His hair was a tangle of brown messy curls and besides him his brother who was just a bit older than him was peacefully sleeping._  
><em>The little dwarfling hadn't been able to find any sleep because he kept thinking of what had happened today. He was still a bit too young to fully understand why everyone had seemed so sad and had asked his brother who hadn't given any satisfying explication. Despite his already stubborn nature, it hadn't taken him long to drop the subject because his attention had something else to focus on that was indeed quite interesting : the little girl who was going to stay with them until her father and brothers came back with his uncle from Moria.<em>  
><em>Just as his thoughts were turning to her again, he suddenly heard the door of the room cracking and saw it being slowly pushed open in the dark.<em>

_"Fili…" he whispered._

_"Mmh" his brother mumbled in his sleep._

_The door closed. Something had come in._

_"Fili! "_

_"What is it Kili?" his brother asked in a sleepy and irritated voice._

_"There's something!"_

_"Mmh? "_

_Fili couldn't see much in the dark but felt his little brother clung to his arm._  
><em>He reached for a candle on the bedside table and lit it up, allowing them both to look around and see what had caused Kili to be afraid.<em>

_"It's not something, it's just Luna", he said, seeing the little girl watching them with big frightened eyes, her back against the door._

_"What are you doing here?" the youngest brother exclaimed, letting go of Fili's arm. "You should be in your bed, if Ma' sees you she will…"_

_"Let her be Kili, she's scared that's all. " He turned towards the girl and gave her a smile. "You're scared, aren't you? "_

_She slowly nodded._

_"What are you afraid of?" the brunette exclaimed._

_"The orcs", she muttered, entangling her fingers and looking down at her feet. "Usually I sleep with my brothers and I'm not afraid but now they aren't there…"_

_Fili was still very young, only a child, but sometimes he could already show himself quite mature for his age and his smile to the little Luna grew fonder._

_She was very young, even younger than Kili and her father and two brothers had left with the army, leaving her to his mother's care as the young girl's had died a couple of years ago and she had no one left to look after her._  
><em>She was watching them from the door, her big dark blue eyes going from them to her feet and her little auburn curls spread on her shoulders. Fili's attention was briefly drawn to the white moon-shaped scar on her left cheek then he shook his head and got off the bed to walk towards her.<em>

_"There's no need to be afraid", Kili said. "You can sleep with us if you want, it will be like being with your brothers. This bed is huge!"_

_"Come, Fili said", holding out his hand to her._

_She hesitated for a few seconds then took it and walked back with him to the bed in which he helped her climb._  
><em>The three of them crawled under the blankets, the brothers careful of putting Luna between them.<em>

_"Better?" Kili asked._

_"Yes, thank you", she whispered._

_"Anytime", Fili yawned. "Go back to sleep now, the two of you. "_

_He blew the candle._


	4. Nightmare

**_Hi everyone! First of all, thank you to all those who already follow/favorite my story, I am very happy to see that some people are enjoying it!  
><em>_Thank you also to those who reviewed it, it is very motivational to hear what you guys actually think about the story and I hope it will continue to please you that way :) _  
><em>You will once in a while find flash-backs in my chapters (such as this one), I will try not to put too many of them but they will be quite important for the story so sorry about that...<em>  
><em>Enjoy and as always, I'd be more than happy to read what you thought of it!<em>**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter<strong>** III : Nightmare**

_Silence had settled for the night in the hidden valley. With the winter approaching, the birds had gone away and most of the animals living in the woods wouldn't be seen either until spring, leaving the valley noiseless during the night when the dwarves were asleep._  
><em>There weren't that many living in this valley ideally located in the heart of the blue mountains : only a little village at its entrance and a bit further up on the mountain, a big house.<em>

_Everything was quiet and still, Luna woke up and sat up so suddenly on her bed that she felt a bit dizzy for a few seconds. The young girl lit a candle on her bedside table then looked around the room. Nothing had moved yet she had a bad feeling that she couldn't explain._  
><em>Deciding it was certainly due to the nightmare she had just had, she stood up and poured herself some water from a pitcher then sat at her desk. Her eyes fell on the letter that she had opened earlier written by her friend Kili who also lived in the mountain, a few days' ride from the valley.<em>

_She absentmindedly smiled to herself while rereading it. It had been well over sixty years since she had last seen him and yet, he insisted on keeping sending her letters once in a while. He was never able to say much and the letters were very occasional because for safety reasons, messengers couldn't travel too often from one place to another, else it might reveal where her family was hiding but still it never failed to make her happy when he wrote to her._

_She had never seen him again since that day when she had left his place where she had lived for a while to go and settle here with her family. At the time, they were only children and she often wondered what he might look like now._

_In this letter, he was telling her how he had finally become taller than Fili, which was a goal he had set himself a very long time ago, and about other things that seemed more or less important to him. His letter ended with a short passage that had made her even happier when she had read it : he was writing that he had heard his uncle Thorin planning to go on a quest to try and reclaim Erebor, that he needed a company to follow him and that of course, the first dwarf he would call upon to help him was her own father, Laïn. In that idea, Thorin was most likely going to travel to the hidden valley soon enough to let his captain know about his plan and with his brother, they intended to accompany him -with or without his leave- because after all, they were his heirs, princes of Erebor and were now more than old enough to prove their value in a quest, especially a quest to reclaim their kingdom._

_She had already heard words of Thorin getting ready to start such a quest. He and her father kept in touch as often as they could and indeed, Laïn had been the first one to get involved in his king's plan to reclaim the lonely mountain. She had been quite dubitative about whether that was a good idea or not, particularly because her father was now getting quite old and had never fully recovered from the battle of Moria that had taken a leg and an eye from him, but after all, a captain's duty was not to question the intentions of his king. Now that she understood that it meant she might get a chance to see her friends again tough, she was looking forward to hear more about it._

_Maybe that if she hadn't been so busy rereading the letter, she would have looked out her window and noticed the dozens of shadows crawling in the night towards the house. But she didn't and it is only when a scream brutally pierced the silence that she jumped on her feet._  
><em>Lights were turned on in the house, others had been woken up and other screams quickly followed. Luna carefully looked outside from the window and finally saw them, all the shadows. Her blood froze.<em>

_Orcs._

_They had found them at last!_

_She folded the letter and shoved it inside her pocket then grabbed a knife that she always kept with her and ran out of her room._

_In the corridor, there was already a rush: many people lived with them in the house : guards mostly but also cooks, maids and even messengers. All had now been woken up and were running here and there in panic._

_"Miss Luna, you can't stay here!" a maid suddenly exclaimed, taking her arm._

_She knew her very well, she was more than a simple maid, she had been her nurse when she was a little girl._

_"Where is my father? And my brother?" Luna asked._

_"I haven't seen them but you have to go! If the orcs see you, they will kill you!"_

_"I need to find them."_

_"Miss Luna!"_

_"Stay with the guards, get out of here!" she shouted, already running in the opposite direction._

_She ran down the flight of steps that lead from the first story of the house where her room was to the ground level._  
><em>In a room where occasional meetings amongst the notable dwarves of the valley were held, she found a first body, a young maid whose killer was still standing next to her.<em>

_"Well, if it isn't Laïn's daughter in person…", the orc said._

_She thought that the common speech never sounded good in an orc's mouth._

_"Get out of here."_

_"Else what?"_

_He charged her and she barely had time to step aside to avoid his attack. Thankfully, she had taken that knife with her from her room and it was small enough so that the orc hadn't noticed she was carrying it. Thinking she was weaponless, he didn't expect her to return his attack and didn't get the chance to react on time when she spun around and drove her blade straight into his chest._  
><em>He died cursing her in black speech.<em>

_She then kneeled next to the body of the young maid just in case she was still alive but it was useless. Hearing more and more heavy footsteps coming in her direction and the screams of the dwarves mixing with the curses of the orcs, she hurriedly left the room and went back to finding her family._  
><em>Now, most of the dwarves who could fight were bravely trying to push the invaders back and protect the others while they were trying to get out of the house.<em>

_"Father! Lunkin!" she was calling after her father and brother._

_"Luna!" she heard at last._

_Spinning around, she finally saw them, swords in hand, running towards her. Just like everyone else, they had been surprised while they were sleeping and were simply wearing their night clothes._

_"You two must get out of here!" Laïn ordered them._

_"I am not leaving you, father" Lunkin replied._

_"Nor am I"_

_"You don't understand, the Orcs are here to kill you! You need to go, now, else they will find you!"_

_"We are from the line of the captains, father" Luna said, "we don't run away from a fight."_

_Despite the situation, Laïn looked at his two last children with proud in his remaining eye._

_"Get down!" he suddenly shouted._

_As Luna and Lunkin automatically dropped to the ground, he blocked the blade of an enemy that was aimed at their necks._

_"No one threatens my children!" he exclaimed before killing him."No one!"_

_As they both got back to their feet, he put a hand on their shoulders._

_"Very well. You need to get everyone safely out of this house. Is that understood?"_

_"But you…"_

_"I will just check upstairs that no one is left behind then I'll join you. You need to save those people."_

_As Lunkin started shouting to everyone to follow him, Luna still looked hesitant._

_"Father…"_

_"Luna, I will join you. I promise."_

_She nodded and picked an abandoned sword on the floor to help her brother while Laïn disappeared upstairs._

_"Follow us, all of you!" she shouted._

_As she made her way towards the nearest exit, killing any enemy who stood in front of her and followed by all those who were still alive, she saw Lunkin looking at the stairs their father had climbed moments ago with hesitation._

_"Lunkin!"_

_"Lead them out, I'll be right back!" he exclaimed and before she had the time to stop him, he ran upstairs as well._

_"Follow me!" she shouted again._

_As they were coming closer to the exit, she found less and less orcs in the way and at her greatest surprise, the way out wasn't blocked and in a few minutes, they were all outside the house._

_It would have been too easy…It's only once they had exited the house that they realised it had been set on fire and that the flames had begun to spread on the roof._

_Behind them, the house was on fire and in front of them, the orcs had completely circled the house. It had all been a trap. There was no way to escape now._

_Luna shot a murderous glance at an orc in the circle in front of her that was giving her an evil smile then looked at all the dwarves that could not fight and that she had lead out of the house who were now desperately looking around them for a way to get out of that nightmare._

_"All those who can fight, with me!" she found herself shouting._

_All the guards and those who had found a weapon during their fled formed a circle as well around those who wouldn't be able to defend themselves._

_"Hold your ground!" she shouted as the orcs were giving the assault._

_They were outnumbered and no matter how bravely the dwarves fought, the enemies quickly broke their line and the screams of those who were defenceless rang in Luna's ears as she was trying to push her assaillants back._  
><em>She suddenly lost her grip on her sword when an orc managed to hit her arm and a hiss of pain escaped her. The mortal blow she was about to receive then was blocked by one of the few dwarves that remained and he killed the orc before turning to her.<em>

_"Go and find your father and brother", the guard told her._

_"It's hopeless" she said, looking at the battle and the bodies around her._

_"As long as there is a captain, hope remains" He nodded at her. "Go now!"_

_She bit her lip._

_"I can't leave you…"_

_"It's too late for us, miss Luna", he said with a sad smile. "But it is not for you."_

_She tried to say something but an orc stood in front of them at that moment and she avoided one of his blows, rolled on the ground to pick up her sword and after one last look towards the guard who was fighting the orc, ran back inside the house that was now being completely devoured by the flames._

_"Father!" she shouted._

_She quickly had to stop shouting and put her sleeve against her mouth to not breathe the smoke._  
><em>She managed to go upstairs and fell to the ground when her feet got caught into something. Standing back up, she noticed it was the body of her nurse.<em>

_"No…Father! Lunkin!"_

_She coughed again but kept on walking._

_Finally, she found them in a little library. They were both lying on the ground, in a puddle of blood._

_"No!"_

_She ran towards them and kneeled next to Lunkin who was the closest. He was alive but a single look at his wounds was enough to tell that he wouldn't be for long._

_"Luna…what the hell are you doing…here?" he muttered._

_"Looking for you…"_

_"Go away little sister…"_

_"Not without you."_

_She was doing her best to contain her tears. It didn't even matter anymore that the house was on fire._  
><em>Lunkin raised a hand to cup her face.<em>

_"Yes…this time, without me. You still have…a chance…"_

_That was too much for her and the tears finally ran down her face._

_"Go…" he whispered._

_His hand fell back to his side. He was dead._

_"No!" she shouted._

_"Luna…?"_

_Her head snapped to where her father was lying. He was still alive!_

_"Father!"_

_She rushed towards him. He was very badly hurt too but she tried not to look at his wounds. She had to get him out of here, he at least could survive._

_"Come father, we need to get out!"_

_She tried to pull him up on his feet but it was useless._

_"Please…"_

_"Lunkin…?"_

_She shook her head, tears still running down her cheeks._

_"Then you…you are now the captain of Erebor…", he whispered._

_"No! Don't say such things, you will live!"_

_"Luna…"_

_She fell on her knees, giving up on trying to pull him up and sobbed._

_"Father please…I…I can't do this…not alone…"_

_"Of course you can, my daughter. You have been trained for this and I am convinced…that you…you will be a great captain. Luna, look at me."_

_She turned her eyes to meet his._

_"You need to go and find the king. He…and his heirs…are yours to protect now…"_

_"Father…"_

_"Take my sword"_

_She shakily took it._

_"It is yours now…"_

_"But…"_

_"Luna. Do it for me"_

_She was biting her lip so hard that blood ran down her chin. If she was about to say something, her father never got the chance to hear it for at that moment, a terrible crack was heard and the house, completely ravaged by the fire, collapsed on itself._

* * *

><p>Luna woke up so brusquely that Kili next to her woke up as well, all his senses in alert. It was the middle of the night now and everyone was asleep besides Bofur who was on watch a bit farther by the fireplace.<p>

"What is it? What happened?" he asked, worry filling his voice.

She was breathing precipitately, trying to chase the images of her dreams away from her mind.

"Nothing" she gasped, "it was just a nightmare…I'm sorry."

"Do you…want to talk about it?" he asked with a yawn.

She shook her head.

"No, it's alright. I'm sorry I woke you up, go back to sleep."

He shrugged her shoulder and made a move to lie back when then saw that she was getting up and gently caught her wrist.

"Luna…"

He felt that she was shaking.

"Did you see the orcs again?"

He remembered very well how every night after she had woken up a few months ago after they found her, she had had those terrible nightmares where she was seeing the orcs that had killed her family. As the weeks had passed, they had become less and less frequent but sill some nights he could tell they hadn't entirely left her.

"Yes" Of course, this time she had seen far more than only the orcs, she had been through the whole night in her dream which had never happened so far.

The screeches of the orcs they had heard earlier were probably the cause of that.  
>She gently freed herself from his grip and gave him the most convincing smile she could.<p>

"I'm okay Kili, I just need to take a few steps" she whispered.

He nodded and watched her walk away towards the fire with a mix of concern and sadness in his eyes.

"You don't sleep lass?" Bofur asked when she came to sit next to him.

She shook her head.

"No, but you can go if you want, I'll hold the watch."

He raised an eyebrow but gave her a soft smile.

"We'll hold it together then."

As silence settled back between them, Luna put her hand inside her coat and she took out a piece of parchment that was in a very poor state. It looked as if it had been half-burnt then frozen and here and there, some traces of blood had left dark marks but strangely, the writing was still readable. It barely mattered anyway, she had read Kili's words over and over again so many times that she knew it by heart now.  
>The ring on her finger, her father's sword and this torn letter were all she had left from her past life now.<p> 


	5. The stubbornness of dwarves

**Chapter IV : The stubbornness of dwarves**

"Bless you"

"Th...thanks", Bilbo answered Luna with a smile.

The fact that it had been raining buckets since the morning added to his little allergy to horse hair was doing nothing to make his journey any pleasant that day.  
>Luna repressed a laugh when she saw him taking out of his pocket the same old piece of cloth Bofur had given him as a handkerchief when he had forgotten his own at the beginning of their quest.<br>With each passing day, she grew fonder of the hobbit, there was something very innocent and very sweet about him that she had never met before in anyone else.  
>The hobbit probably caught the light of amusement in her eyes because he raised an eyebrow at her.<p>

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Sorry, I was just thinking that hobbits really are interesting folks" she answered, not able to repress her smile anymore.

"Even more drenched hobbits apparently"

A little laugh escaped her and some dwarves, including Kili, turned their eyes towards her. The sound of her laughing was the first happy thing happening today. With the rain pouring down on them since they had set off this morning, even Fili and Kili seemed to be in no mood to joke around.

"So tell me, how do you find travelling with a company of dwarves so far?" Luna asked.

Bilbo seemed surprised to hear such a question.

"You should ask me on better days, right now I wish for nothing more than find a nice, warm place where I could dry myself by a fire then go for a good night's sleep and forget about all this."

"I challenge you to find a dwarf in this company who doesn't wish for the same thing right now"

"Even Thorin...?" he asked in a lower voice by fear to be heard.

"Yes, even him" she smiled, looking at her king's back as he was riding at the front of the group as usual. "Even Thorin longs for the comforts of his home"

Bilbo bit his lip in a dubitative way at this.

"You think I'm wrong?" she asked.

"No...I mean, it's just that..."

He bit his lip again and turned his eyes away.

"Nothing, never mind"

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I know what you think of him" she said.

"What?"

They were now speaking in lower voices to not be heard by anyone. Thankfully, that was made easier by their position at the very back of the group and the fact that all the others had their hoods drawn back on their heads, covering their ears at least a little bit to protect themselves from the rain.

"You think he is cold, rude and thinks himself superior to the others"

"What?! No...I..." he violently exclaimed.

"You don't have to deny it in front of me."

That was true, Bilbo remembered his first encounter with the girl when he had found her on his perron and that the first thing he had seen were her eyes that seemed able to see the finest lies. He remembered thinking to himself that night that he would never be able to hide anything from her.

"I know he may seem antipathetic at times but it's because you don't really know him yet" she continued. "Thorin can be harsh at times, it's true, but he will always do anything when it comes to protecting those he cares for. See all those dwarves who are following him? They do it because they believe he will lead them back home to Erebor, because they trust him"

Bilbo let his glance wander to the dwarf leading the company.

"And why do _you_ follow him?" he asked.

"Because it is my duty to him and to my father...and also because it is a chance to get our home back"

"I'm sorry if this sounds displaced but there is something I don't understand...how can you call it your home when you have never really lived there yourself and don't remember it?"

She paused for a few seconds.

"Erebor is home to every dwarf...that's where my family lived and protected the line of Durin for generations. Erebor is my home."

Her tone wasn't convincing enough to him but he thought it wiser to change the subject.

"So...how long have you and Kili known each other exactly?" he asked in a lighter tone.

"Basically since I was born I think...but then we spent like sixty or seventy years without seeing each other. Why's that?"

"I just thought you made a beautiful couple"

Luna dropped her jaw in surprise and coughed, violently shaking her head.

"What?!"

"Aren't you two kind of...together?" Bilbo asked in a small voice, confused.

"No!"

"You mean...not at all? Not even a little bit?"

"Bilbo, no!"

Luna knew perfectly well that she was blushing right now and pulled her hood closer to her face just in case any of the dwarves turned around and looked their way. How could the hobbit even think like that? No one had ever mentioned Kili and her being more than friends -besides Fili when he was teasing his brother- and even the simple idea of loving someone in that way had not come to her mind at all since the death of her father and brother a few months ago, not that it was something she often got the chance to think of before that.

It was true that she was closer to Kili than she was to anyone else, even Fili. They usually slept not far from each other -if not curled up against each other like that night on the cliff- but that is something they had always done when they were children and that she was afraid to sleep alone. Strangely, their habit had come back almost seventy years later once they started this quest when almost naturally they had searched the comfort and safety of the other's presence to sleep but that meant nothing at all.  
>Kili was her friend and even if she wanted him to become more than that, which she didn't, it would never happen because he was a prince of Erebor and she was meant to be a captain whether she wanted it or not. Her role was to protect him and it was hard enough already to keep an eye on that young reckless dwarf, there was no need to add feelings in that matter.<p>

"That's a shame you know" Bilbo insisted with this smile a little grin on his face. "Because the way he looks at you...I'm convinced you would only need to say the words and he would fall for you"

She shook her head and allowed herself to smile. He was just joking, that was it. The hobbit had now spent enough time with the dwarves to get used to their habit of teasing each other.

"I don't think so, no. You are mistaken. There has never been more than friendship between Kili and me."

"But could there be?"

"Never has been and never will be."

Bilbo sighted and shook his head.

"I have been warned against it though...but still it never fails to amaze me"

"What?"

"The stubbornness of dwarves" he said and Luna smiled again.

* * *

><p>A few days later, the rain had finally stopped, leaving the company exhausted from journeying under the buckets of water that had poured on them for what felt like an eternity and that's why Thorin called the company to a halt earlier than usual that day.<p>

"We'll camp here tonight!" Thorin shouted from the head of the group.

Luna sighted in relief. She was sore from sitting on her pony all day long and was in desperate need for some rest and a good bath.

"Fili, Kili, watch the ponies, stay with them" Thorin called his nephews.

She waited for a few seconds as he was starting to give orders to more or less everyone to set the camp to see whether he would tell her to do something as well but as he said nothing, she dismounted and closed her eyes for a few seconds to chase her headache away.

"Are you alright?"

She opened her eyes again to see Fili watching her with concern in his eyes.

"Yes, just tired"

He raised an eyebrow but she smiled at him and passed him the reins of her pony.

"Have fun watching the ponies with Kili" she grinned at him.

"I take it you won't join us?"

"I'd much rather take the opportunity of a tranquil night to go for a good bath"

"A bath?" Kili exclaimed a bit further, eavesdropping on them. "But we have been traveling under the rain for days!"

"There are some people in this company who enjoy smelling good once in a while" she rolled her eyes.

"Damn it, Fili, I think you were right...she is a girl!"

As the blonde laughed, she shook her head in exasperation.

"Just go and watch the ponies" she sighted before taking her bag and heading towards where the others were already setting the camp.

As she made her way towards them, Gandalf suddenly walked passed her with a very irritated look on his face.

"Gandalf? Where are you going?" Bilbo called from where he was standing a bit further.

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense!"

"Who's that?"

"Myself, master Baggins!"

Luna heard him mumbling some words as he walked away and caught some of it, including words about the "stubbornness of dwarves".

"Is he coming back?" Bilbo asked Balin, an expression of worry on his face.

The young girl's eyes traced back the way from where the wizard had come and was only half-surprised to find Thorin standing near the old ruins, looking in the direction Gandalf had left with a dark look.

Despite herself, Biblo's words from the other day came back to her mind when she saw him with such a look in his eyes. _How can you call it your home when you have never lived there yourself and don't remember it?_  
>She quickly shook her head to chase the thought away. She couldn't allow herself to think like that, that's not what she was supposed to do.<p>

"Where are ye going lass?" Dwalin called when he saw her walking away.

"To take a bath, there is a river nearby"

"Oh, can I come?" Bofur teasingly asked and Dwalin kicked him on the head.

"It depends, how much do you value your life?"

She walked away while the dwarves laughed.

* * *

><p>"Luna seems to have gotten a lot better"<p>

Kili looked at his brother. They were sitting on a fallen tree trunk, watching the ponies. They could once in a while hear the laughters of the rest of the companies who were probably eating together around a fire.

"Don't you think so little brother?" Fili asked as Kili wasn't answering.

The young dwarf remembered the nightmare she had had that night on the cliff and how he had felt her shaking when he had caught her wrist.

"I don't know...she is still having those nightmares once in a while"

"She will have them for a long time you know...I doubt they will ever entirely disappear But besides that, doesn't she look better to you now?"

"Maybe...it is true that she laughs more and doesn't look so much like she is forcing it any more."

"Good, now that we are clear on this point, I can finally ask you a question that has burnt my tongue for the past few months but that didn't sound appropriate until now"

Kili shot his brother a curious and suspicious glance.

"So...what do you think of her?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think of Luna? She is quite beautiful, isn't she ?"

"I guess she is..." he prudently answered, not sure of where his brother was going with this.

"Come on Kee, you can don better than that, I have seen how you've looked at her ever since she came back."

"What in Durin's name are you implying?"

"You find her attractive"

"No! I mean...of course she is quite attractive...everyone can see that"

"But you better than the others, hmm?"

"No"

"You have never been and will never be able to hide anything from me baby brother. At the beginning, I was ready to believe you were only concerned by her survival but now that it's over, you can't deny that you don't fancy her."

"I do not fancy her!"

"What? Are you madly in love already?"

"Fili, stop it! I am not having feelings for Luna and even if I were, I hardly believe that's the kind of thing she is looking for right now after the murder of her family"

"You don't know that"

"Yes I do. She is not ready to fall in love now"

"No one is ever ready to fall in love, brother. That's not something that one plans, it just happens. That's why it's called _falling_, you'd be pretty retarded if you actually planned to fall"

"And since when are you such a philosopher?"

"Not a philosopher, just a big brother"

He gave Kili a huge grin that made the youngest roll his eyes.

"At least, admit that she is beautiful" he insisted.

"Fili, stop it. I am not in love with Luna, nor is she in love with me"

"Alright, alright..."

He paused for a minute or two.

"But seriously, from brother to brother...how do you find her?" he couldn't stop asking again.

"Fili..."

"From brother to brother! I'm not implying anything this time! From...an objective point of view"

Kili sighted and looked ahead of him towards the ponies. Despite Fili's annoying teasing, he was forced to admit that indeed, he hadn't seen her for over sixty years, but she had grown very beautiful. She probably didn't know that but over the years, rumours had begun to spread in the Blue Mountains about her. Messengers who traveled to and from the hidden valley often reported that Laïn's daughter was of a great beauty such as they had rarely had the chance to see. When he had first heard that, he had laughed, remembering the little girl who used to win when they fought and came back home at night covered in dirt to Dis' greatest frustration -she who had always wished for a girl and got instead a third boy as Kili called her to annoy her when she had beaten him in a fight- but then, had grown always more and more curious to actually see her again and when he had, he had found himself unable to speak for a brief instant as his eyes had landed on her face.

"Yes...she is very beautiful", he sighted.

Although he had promised to stop teasing him, Fili's grin grew wider but he unfortunately had to drop the subject for now because Kili suddenly stood up with a frown on his face.

"What is it?"

"The ponies...we are missing one."

Fili stood up as well and looked around, mentally counting the animals.

"Not only one...", he whispered.

At that moment, Bilbo arrived with two bowls of stew that he had been told to bring them but they didn't even seem to notice him when he handed them their dinners.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"We are supposed to be looking after the ponies" Kili said.

"Only we've encountered a slight problem" Fili added. "We had sixteen and now there's...fourteen"

* * *

><p>Luna emerged from the water and pushed her wet hair away from her face, taking in a deep breath.<br>She swam towards the edge of the little pool she had found and went back to the place where it was shallow enough for her feet to touch the ground.  
>There, she just rested her forearms on the flat stones that surrounded the little pool and sighted in relief, closing her eyes to appreciate her peaceful moment of privacy.<p>

_"Luna. Do it for me"_

_She was biting her lip so hard that blood ran down on her chin. She opened her mouth to say something but at that moment, a terrible crack was heard and she barely had the time to snap her head up to see what remained of the roof collapsing._

_"NO!"_

_She held on to her father as she felt everything falling apart around her and her scream got lost in the thundering sound of the collapsing house._

She opened her eyes again, her heart pounding in her chest as the memories of that night came back to her in a flash.  
>She leaned on the rocks for a few minutes, trying to steady her breathing. The usual scenes that she sometimes saw piping up in her mind were blurry images of orcs and snow, and usually they came to her as nightmares during her sleep but it was the second time now that a scene came back so brightly, it was as if she was there again. Plus, this time she hadn't even been asleep…<p>

For weeks she had wished that the nightmares would remain what they were ; only blurry images, and had hoped that all the memories she had lost wouldn't come back. She had lived through the loss of her family and home and through weeks of being chased down by orcs until she reached her childhood's friends' place and she definitely wasn't ready to see it all a second time.

She looked down at herself in the water. Who was she trying to fool? There was no way she would ever be able to live without remembering or thinking about it. Her body itself was a constant reminder of what had happened with all the scars she had gotten from those events. Although she couldn't remember right now where they all came from, she had a feeling it wouldn't be long anymore until it all came back. She ran her fingers on a long one running from her shoulder down her arm. That one, she remembered, it was a piece of wood from her house that had embedded itself into her flesh when the place had collapsed.

She shook her head. No, she had to stop thinking about that. If the memories decided to come back, very well, but she wouldn't let them affect her in that way. She was Laïn's daughter, a heir of the captains of Erebor, she wasn't going to let some memories beat her up, not when she had three people from the line of Durin to protect.

She hadn't realised how long she had been in the water, night had fallen already and a small brise made her shiver.  
>She quickly got out of the water, dried herself up and put on some spare clothes that she had in her bag then started heading back towards the camp.<p>

As she got closer and closer tough, she stopped for a few seconds. Something was wrong. Usually, she would have heard the dwarves' merry chattering and laughing from quite a distance but as she was approaching the camp, there was nothing but silence.  
>She frowned, could they all be sleeping already? No, that was none sense, she might had stayed a bit longer than excepted in the water but not that long.<p>

She started running towards the campement and when she arrived, she looked around her in concern.

"Hello?" she called.

All the dwarves' things were there, a fire had been turned on and was still burning with a big pot half-full with stew over it.  
>Dishes were scattered on the floor, plates and bowls most of them still full of the stew that had been served.<p>

Nothing could have worried her more than that. Only under very important circumstances would the dwarves have abandoned their dinners. She found no trace of blood, thankfully, and no weapons.  
>She took her own sword, left her bag behind her and ran towards where Fili and Kili were supposed to keep the ponies.<p>

"Fili?" she called "Kili!"

There was no one, only the ponies peacefully eating the grass.

"Where did they all go?" she asked, looking for her own pony.

It's only when she didn't find it that she realised some of them were missing.

"What on earth is going on here?" she muttered to herself.

As she started looking around her, she quickly found evident traces of the passage of the company. Obviously, they had been in a hurry…  
>She followed their trace and didn't long to hear voices and see the light of a fire burning further away between low branches.<br>She got closer as silently as she could and hiding behind some bushes, tried to figure out who were the owners of the voices she could hear.

Obviously, the dwarves were there. They were the loudest and seemed to be shouting all together words that she couldn't quite get from where she was.  
>They weren't alone though, above the tumult of their voices came others and to be precise, three others.<br>Risking a quick glance at them from her hiding place, her blood froze when she saw that the company had been captured by trolls.

_Three_ massive, ugly-looking trolls.


	6. Troubles

**Chapter V : Troubles **

"Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly!" one of the trolls exclaimed.

Luna, still hiding behind the bushes, had listened to their conversation long enough to know that they were called Bert, William and Tom but she couldn't remember who was who. She had analysed the situation, trying to find out a way to get the dwarves and Bilbo out of there.  
>Half of the group had been bound to a branch that the trolls were slowly turning above their fire in hope to cook them and the other half had been tied up and shoved into large sacks.<br>Instinctively, her eyes had looked for the three dwarves she was to protect. Thorin and Kili were in the sacks and Fili was on the branch.

"They should be sauté and grilled with a sprinkle of sage" another troll replied.

"Never mind the seasoning! We ain't got all night, dawn ain't far away and I don't fancy being turned into stone"

"Wait!"

Luna startled at that last voice that had spoken up.

"You are making a terrible mistake!"

It was Bilbo! Luna looked up to a tall tree with plenty of thick branches a few feet away. If she wanted to get a better view of the scene without being seen and maybe get a better chance of attacking them at her advantage if it came to that, there seemed to be only one thing to do.  
>Quietly slipping from her hiding spot, she silently crawled the short distance separating her from the tree then nimbly pulled herself up onto one of the lowest branches and climbed up to a branch that was high enough and ideally located to give a great view on the trolls' camp.<p>

The hobbit had managed to get up and hop in his sack to get closer to the trolls.

"I mean with the seasoning" he went on.

"What about the seasoning?"

"Well have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up"

If the situation had not been so bad, Luna would have laughed. She tried to avoid looking at the dwarves' shocked expressions as they started raising their voices against the poor hobbit, not aware that he was trying to save them by playing for time.

"What do you know about cooking dwarves?" one troll asked.

Luna couldn't believe it, they were the stupidest creatures she had ever met. She tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword, ready to fall on them at any occasion.

"Shut up! Let the…furglarburgler hobbit talk" the cook snapped.

"The secret to cooking dwarves…" obviously, Bilbo had not think this through.

"Yes? Come on!"

"Yes, I'm telling you! The secret to cooking dwarves is to…skin them first!"

Luna's palm met with her forehead and the dwarves started to shout at the hobbit.

"Tom, get me the filleting knife"

"What a load of rubbish!" the third troll exploded. "I've eaten plenty with their skins on!"

"He's right!" the third troll exclaimed and he reached for the sack in which Bombur had been tied up and held it up in the air above his mouth.

"Nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf! Nice and crunchy!"

As he started lowering the poor Bombur towards his mouth, Luna decided it was time to intervene and without further thinking, jumped from her branch and fell into the air to land on the troll's massive forearm. Thankfully, she didn't catch the shocked expressions on the dwarves' faces as they saw her launching into the air, otherwise she would have laughed and lost her balance.

"Drop him!" she shouted and with her sword, sliced through his big hand holding the dwarf.

With a mixed cry of surprise and pain, he dropped Bombur and tried to get rid of that little stingy think crawling up his arm.

The two other trolls had jumped in surprise and one of them caught Luna in his fist. She choked at the pressure he was applying on her ribs, fearing they might crack.

"Luna!" Kili exclaimed.

"What is that?" the troll asked.

"I don't know, but it hurt me!"

"It doesn't even look good to eat. Not enough meat"

"Barely enough for a bite!"

The troll who was holding her raised his hand to his mouth to eat her but again, Bilbo prevented it from happening.

"Not that one!" he shouted. "She's infected!"

"You what?"

"She's got…worms…in her tubes." Bilbo made up his story so quickly himself looked shocked of what he had said.

It was convincing enough for the trolls tough and the one who was holding Luna threw her with disgust on the pile of dwarves in their sack.

"Ouch" Kili muttered as she landed on him, knocking his breath away.

"Sorry" she whispered, mentally checking that she hadn't broken anything.

"In fact the all have" the hobbit went on. "They're infected with parasites, I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't"

As the dwarves started once again shouting their disapproval, Luna rolled her eyes and gave Kili a small kick of her elbow. She met Thorin's eyes and saw that he had understood Bilbo's plan as well and as they all became aware that the hobbit wasn't trying to insult them, they suddenly started shouting in approval.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!" Oïn exclaimed.

"Mine are the biggest parasites!" Kili cried out.

Luna shook her head and quickly took a little knife from her boot to start cutting the dwarves free from their bounds.

"What would you have us do then? Let them all go?!" the cook exclaimed.

"Well…" Bilbo now looked very convincing in his role.

"I am not letting our dinner run away!" the biggest troll exclaimed and taking notice of what Luna was doing, he grabbed her again and held her so tightly she cried out in pain.

"Put that one in the fire! I am sick of girls!"

"No!"

"Luna!"

"The dawn will take you all!"

They all turned to see Gandalf standing on top of a huge rock.

"Who's that?"

"No idea"

"Can we eat him too?"

And with that, the wizard brought his staff down on the boulder that cracked open, letting the light of the sun that was rising shine on the trolls that started to shout in pain.  
>Luna quickly planted her little dagger into the hand of her opponent so that he would drop her before he turned into stone and she fell on her back, eyes wide open as the huge troll above her was turning into a statue.<p>

There was a short silence then all the dwarves started to cheer and Bilbo sighted in relief. As Gandalf quickly climbed down the rock and went to help the dwarves out of their bonds, Kili jumped to his feet as soon as he was freed from his sack and ran to where Luna was still lying on the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling next to her and helping her into a sitting position.

"I'm fine" she replied, gently pushing his hands away. "Except that obviously I can't even go for a bath without you getting into troubles.'

That made him smile. She was alright.

"Well luckily, we have a squirrel warrior in the group it seems"

"A squirrel warrior? Really?"

"Your made quite a spectacular entrance jumping from that tree"

"Now I'm disappointed."

"Why?"

"A squirrel? Seriously? Couldn't you think of anything at least a little bit scarier?"

He chuckled.

"You're right, a squirrel is cute while you are just scary"

"You have no idea."

This time she returned his smile and gladly took Bombur's hand when he offered to help her up.

"Thank you Luna" he said.

"Anytime, Bombur"

Then he walked towards his brothers and as the dwarves were all gathering their things, Fili joined them and warmly clasped her on the shoulder.

"You lose points for managing to disgust an ugly and smelly troll and having him throwing you on a pile of other dwarves but you still win my greatest admiration thanks to your breathtaking entrance. I did not know dwarves could fly, are you sure you are not related to birds?" he grinned at her.

"Two minutes ago I was a squirrel, now I am a bird, you two really are good with metaphors"

"Wait, Kili called you a squirrel?"

He couldn't contain his laugh and ignored his brother's dark glance.

"Well, Luna, it sounds like my baby brother still have one or two things to learn when it comes to complimenting girls. Birds are a lot more poetic"

"Since when do you know anything about poetry?" she asked.

"Good point" Kili nodded.

"Say the two people who were able to hold their wooden swords before being able to properly spell book"

"Time passed, things changed" Luna noted.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"How was your bath?"

Luna's smile instantly faded away as she suddenly recalled what had happened earlier in the little pool.

_"Luna. Do it for me"_

She mentally shook herself up and forced the smile back on her face.

"Quite relaxing, thank you"

Fili raised an eyebrow. For a fraction of a second, her face had changed. He thought better to drop the subject for now though, he would confront her on that matter at another time when there won't be anyone around.

A bit further, Thorin stepped towards Gandalf who was looking at the statues of the three trolls.

"Where did you go to if I may ask?"

"To look ahead", the wizard simply answered.

"What brought you back?"

"Looking behind"

Thorin nodded, a little smile on his lips at the wizard's usual mysteriousness.

"Nasty business…still, we're all in one piece"

"Not thanks to your burglar" the dwarf snapped.

"He had the nerves to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that!"

Thorin lowered his head, he had to admit it was true.

"Since when do mountain trolls come this far south?" he changed the subject.

"Oh, not for an age…they couldn't have moved in daylight"

"There must be a cave nearby"

* * *

><p>After they had gone back to their campement to gather their things, they found the cave the trolls had been living in and decided to go and have a look at it.<p>

"Oh, God…I am not going down there" Luna muttered as she was standing at the entry of the cave.

The smell that came out of it was so terrible it made her gag.

"I'll just wait here, you two go" she pushed Fili and Kili in front of her and stepped aside to let the others go in as well.

"Are you sure?" Fili asked.

"Leave her Fee, the lady doesn't fancy bad scents" Kili smirked.

"A wonder I cope with yours"

"I don't smell bad!" Kili looked gravely offended but his brother laughed and pushed him in front of him and they both followed the others.

Luna smiled to herself and then only noticed Bilbo who had remained behind as well and was sitting on a rock a few feet from the entrance of the cave. She made her way towards him and sat on the rock as well.

"So does it often happen to you? Making a good seasoning for dwarves?" she asked.

He blushed and gave her a little smile.

"That was very brave" she added. "And really smart"

"Not as brave as you jumping on a troll from a tree"

She frowned as he looked down. He actually looked sad.

"Bilbo, there is bravery in you, do you really doubt it?"

"Of course I doubt it. I am travelling with a group of warriors used to those kinds of things while I am just…" he sighted, "…just a hobbit"

"Well I think that 'just hobbits' are a rather remarkable folk"

He didn't seem convinced though.

"But don't you feel…fear once in a while?" he asked.

"What?"

"Aren't you ever scared?"

"Of course I am, Bilbo! We are all afraid sometimes, more than we will admit"

"You don't look like it though"

"When it comes to fear, you are given a choice my friend. You can either crawl into a ball and close your eyes or you can stand against it just like you did"

"You really think so?"

"I am convinced of it"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"You are braver than you think, master Baggins. It wasn't a coincidence Gandalf wanted you in this quest"

"How can you be so sure when I don't even know myself?"

"I just know" she put a hand on his shoulder and met his eyes. "I trust him and I trust you"

This time, the smile he offered her was a bit more convincing.

"Thank you"

The others didn't long to come out of the cave. Some were carrying pieces of the treasure they had probably found down there and she didn't fail to notice that Thorin had a nice-looking sword with him and so did Gandalf who walked in their direction.

"Bilbo!" he exclaimed, holding a dagger in its sheath, "This should be about your size"

The hobbit's eyes widened and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Gandalf, I can't take this"

"This blade is elvish-made, which means it will glow blue when orcs or gobelins are nearby"

"I've never used a sword in my life", he swallowed nervously.

"And I hope you never have to" Gandalf put the weapon in Bilbo's hands and leant a bit closer towards him. "Remember this, true courage is knowing not when to take a life, but knowing when to spare one"

The hobbit seemed about to say something but their attention was suddenly drawn to where the others had started to gather and were all looking around, nervous and holding their weapons ready for an attack. Something was coming, they could hear it crashing through the trees.

"Stay together!" Gandalf shouted, leaving the hobbit to his sword and taking his own out of its sheath.

"Come"Luna pressed the hobbit along to join the others and grabbed her twin blades, ready to fight any foe that would come out of the bushes.

As the noises came a lot closer, she suddenly pulled Kili out of the way just in time before a sled lead by no others than rabbits burst from between the trees and stopped in front of them.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!" its rider cried out.

At that point, Luna was too stunned by the new arrivant to even think of defending herself if he tried to attack. He was wearing what might have once been a brown robe, similar to Gandalf's grey one but that was now nothing but a dirty old rage. He was wearing a funny-looking hat and his hair and long beard looked like a bird nest.

Even odder, Gandalf instantly lowered his sword and took quick steps towards him to warmly greet him.

"Radagast!" he exclaimed. "Radagast the Brown!"

The dwarves lowered their weapons but kept their eyes on the new arrivant, partly because they were suspicious even if he seemed to be in good terms with Gandalf and partly because they were still shocked by his entrance.

Bilbo vaguely remembered a conversation he had had with Gandalf a little while ago when they had been traveling under the rain and that he had asked about the existence of other wizards. _There are five of us_, his friend had answered. Saruman, two blues, himself and Radagast the Brown…yet he couldn't believe that that person who looked as if he had never seen a bath and was riding a sled pulled by rabbits could be as powerful and wise as Gandalf.

"What are you doing here?" Gandalf eyed his friend.

"I was looking for you Gandalf. Something is wrong, something is terribly wrong!"

Radagast opened his mouth as if to say what was causing him to worry then closed it and frowned.

"I had a thought and now I lost it" he muttered and Luna raised an eyebrow, not quite believing what she was witnessing.

"It was right here on the tip of my tongue! Oh!"

The brown wizard pulled his tongue out and she saw with disgust an insect crawling on it.

"It's not a thought at all! It's a stick insect!"

Luna shook her head then stepped away with the others, leaving the two wizards apart so that they could talk.

She sat on a rock and pushed her hair away from her face to notice Fili watching her.

"What?" she asked.

"Your hair…you have very beautiful curls but…"

"Don't even think about it" she stopped him, guessing his thought. Fili had something with braids, had always had from what she remembered when she was a child. Even at the time, he used to be irritated when she and Kili would come back from a day spent outside with tangled and messy hair.

"But you'd be so beautiful!" he insisted.

"Are you saying she's not?" Bofur grinned, piping in the conversation.

"No, of course but…if it was all put into a nice braid, you'd have it out of your face and that would look so nice on you. Luna, a young girl of noble birth like you can't just go around jumping on trolls with your hair not properly tied"

"That is the silliest argument I have ever heard in my whole life"

"But…"

"We've had this conversation already, I don't want to go through it another time, my hair don't need to be braided" she warned.

"Very well, just stay like that and you will end up with your hair as messy as Kili's"

"Hey! I hear you!"

"Let the girl be lad" Bofur said. "Someone will put a braid in her hair one day anyway"

"Who's that?" Bilbo innocently asked, not able to imagine who could be so bold as to force the young girl to stay still while they braided a strand of her hair.

"Her fiancee"

"When two dwarves get married, they put a braid in each other's hair to symbolise their love and their union" Balin gently explained.

"Are you…engaged?" the hobbit turned to the girl with wide eyes.

"No, I am not getting married" she gritted between her teeth. "Not now, not anytime soon and most likely never"

"What do you mean never?" Fili exclaimed.

"Really, lass? There might be a young dwarf out there who will in the future be the luckiest man ever, are you really going to take that chance away from him?" Bofur argued in a pleading voice.

"But if you don't marry…who will be the next captain?" Ori timidly asked. He too had gotten into the conversation.

Luna had seemed about to say something but paused at Ori's question. She had never thought about this until then…well, not exactly, she had already realised that she was the last of her line but hadn't thought further about the fact that after her, if she didn't have children of her own, the line of the captains would be over for good.

"Can we please stop talking about me getting married?" she simply asked on a tone implying that the conversation was over.

The dwarves didn't say more on the subject and instead started chatting together except for Kili. He had listened to the whole exchange and couldn't help but feel a bit sad although he couldn't explain why. From Luna's attitude, he took it she wasn't planning to marry anytime in her life and didn't even look like she wanted to have feelings for anyone. He didn't know why but while it confirmed what he had told Fili when they were watching the ponies, he still felt an odd pinch to his heart.  
>He mentally shook himself up though, maybe that was just because he was sad that the girl didn't think optimistically about her future but he couldn't blame her with all that had happened to her.<p>

He was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts by a long howl that broke all the dwarves' chattering.

"Was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked, fear clear in his voice as he got to his feet and looked around him. "Are there wolves around here?"

"No that isn't a wolf" Bofur answered.

At those words, a giant warg appeared into view from behind the trees and leapt for Luna who was the closest. Kili had the wits to draw his bow on time though and the beast fell under his arrows.

He briefly met her eyes before a second warg appeared and was killed as quickly.

"Warg scouts!" Thorin cursed beneath his breath. "Which means an orc pack is not far behind"

"Orc pack?!" Bilbo repeated, his face turning pale.

"Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?!" Gandalf exclaimed, coming back towards the dwarves with Radagast following close.

"No one"

"Who did you tell?!"

"No one I swear!"

"What in Durin's name is going on?"

"You are being haunted" the grey wizard darkly announced.

"We have to get out of here"

"We can't! We have no ponies!" Ori exclaimed.

"I'll draw them off!" Radagast piped in, a look of determination on his funny face that would have made Luna laugh if the situation had not been so bad.

"These are Gundabad wargs, they will outrun you" Gandalf protested.

"These are Rosghobel rabbits!" his friend fiercely argued. "I'd like to see them try!"

"What? What's happening…who…what does that mean?" Bilbo pleaded but only Luna seemed to hear him.

"It means we're in trouble…again" she answered.


	7. The rescue

**Chapter VI : The rescue**

Luna couldn't believe it at first but Radagast's diversion actually seemed to work : the orcs took in pursuing him, clearing the way for them.

"Go!" Gandalf exclaimed and they all followed him as he lead them out of the safety of the forest into the big plain that stretched as far as the eye can see before them with only a few rocks and trees here and there to offer shelter.

"Stay together!"

It was almost unnecessary to say for none of them would have thought of walking away on his own as the sometimes distant and sometimes close howls of the wargs chasing Radagast made their hearts pounding violently in their chests.

They ducked behind a large boulder when they heard that the pack was coming closer again and waited for a few seconds then burst out of their hiding place again.

It seemed to last an eternity : they were constantly running and abruptly changing direction according to the distance separating them from the orcs then finding shelter behind rocks or trees whenever the pack was too close but never long enough to catch their breaths and then they went on again.

"This way!" Gandalf exclaimed after they had once again been hiding behind a rock.

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin growled, suspecting the wizard to take them to a place where by all means he did not wish to go.

The Gandalf's not answering made him even angrier but it wasn't a proper time to argue and he started running again with the others.

Trapped, they were trapped, that's all Luna could think of. They should never have left the forest, there at least they could remained unseen with a bit of luck but on this vast plain, there was no way the orcs wouldn't end up catching them and Radagast didn't seem able to draw them off for good.  
>What did the wizard had in mind as he lead them to what seemed to be an dead-end, she did not know, all she could hope for was that they would manage to get far enough from the pack once for all.<p>

Shooting a quick glance at Bilbo, she saw that all colours had drained from his face and terror was filling his eyes with a feverish gleam. Only adrenaline was making him able to run along with the others but at least, it was better than having him totally unable to move.

"Ori, no!" Thorin shouted, grabbing the young dwarf scribe by the back of his coat to pull him back behind a large rock before he got himself into their pursuers' view. They waited for a few seconds then went on again but not for long : the pack was far too close this time and Luna let out a small gasp as she brusquely flattened herself against another big rock.

Although they could all feel their hearts racing and desperately needed to catch their breaths, they didn't dare make any sound as they felt a warg that had separated from the pack to climb on top of the boulder behind which they were hiding and was smelling their presence.

Thorin turned his eyes to Kili and slowly nodded. His nephew silently fitted an arrow into his bow, took in a deep breath then stepped out of his hiding place and shot the warg straight in the neck.  
>When the orc who had been riding it fell off his dying monture, he was greeted by Dwalin and Bifur's axes who quickly finished him off but not quickly enough to keep him quiet unfortunately and his loud agonising cries were heard hundreds of meters around, not escaping the rest of the pack that instantly left Radagast to come after them.<p>

"Run! Move!" Gandalf shouted.

They ran again, faster than ever if that was even possible, but they didn't get the chance to go far this time, quickly they could see orcs coming from every direction.

"There they are!" Gloïn exclaimed.

"We're surrounded!" Fili cried out, unsheathing his sword and running to where the company was huddling together, ready to fight.

_And so the trap closes_, Luna thought, firmly grabbing her twin blades as she saw the enemies getting closer and closer all around them.

"Where is Gandalf?"

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin exclaimed.

The young girl quickly looked around for the wizard and indeed, saw no sign of him anywhere yet she didn't believe for a second he had abandoned them like that.

"Kili, stay back!" she growled as she saw him stepping forward to take a better aim at a warg with his bow.

While at least Thorin and Fili were closer to the group, Kili and her were a bit further.

"Hold your ground!" Thorin shouted.

Ori managed to hit a warg with a rock but the beast didn't even seem to bother and kept on getting dangerously close.

Luna shot her darkest glance at an orc who was evilly grinning at her a few meters in front of her and braced herself for a fight, no matter how desperate it seemed.

At that moment, Gandalf's head snapped up from behind a rock.

"This way, you fools!" he shouted at them and the company all started to run towards him and as they reached the place where he was standing, they found a rocky slope descending to what looked like an underground cave in which they eagerly jumped.

Thorin stayed on the edge of the slope to make sure everyone was there and saw Kili and Luna still standing further, facing the orcs.

"Kili! Luna!" he shouted.

Luna snapped her head back and briefly nodded to Thorin.

"Kili, run!" she ordered.

"I"m not leaving you"

"Run you stubborn reckless dwarf!"

She grabbed a little dagger she kept on her belt and threw it at the warg that was the closest and hit it straight in the eye. As it howled in pain, she turned around and grabbed Kili's hand to start running as fast as she could to where Thorin was still standing.

The slope was so close…and yet, as she could hear the thundering sound of the warg she had hit galloping after them, followed by the others of its pack, she feared they would never make it on time.

"Run, don't look back!" she yelled at Kili.

He obeyed and tightened his grip on her hand. Luna could feel the warg' s hot breath on her neck. There they were, the slope, fifty centimetres more and…she hissed in pain as she felt the beast's teeth digging into her shoulder and with all the strengths she had left, she freed her hand from Kili's at the very last second and pushed him as hard as she could towards Thorin, hard enough to have them fall down the slope into the safety of the cave.

Not stopping her movement, she turned around and with a cry, embedded the blade she was still holding into the warg's scull just behind her, forcing him to release her. Before the wolf died though, it shook its head in pain so violently that she was sent flying into the air to land a few meters further where she lied on the ground for a few seconds, knocked out by the violence of the shock and the pain in her shoulder that was quickly spreading to her whole arm.

She didn't get much time to rest though : only a few seconds later, an orc was above her, its blade aimed at her throat. She quickly reached for her sword but it had been sent flying away in another direction. The orc gave her an evil smile then suddenly froze when he saw the white moon-shaped scar on her face and his eyes widened.

She took advantage of his short distraction to kick him off her with her feet then rolled on the ground to a safer distance and got back on her feet, trying to push the searing pain in her shoulder away. She swallowed nervously as she looked around her. The orcs were surrounding her, mounted on their abominable beasts, she had a totally useless arm and was alone now.

* * *

><p>Down in the cave, Gandalf was counting the dwarves when Kili and Thorin came sliding down the slope in their turn.<p>

Kili quickly got to his feet and turned around with a little smile on his lips to make a comment to Luna about how close it had been this time but his smile instantly faded when he saw she was not there.

"Luna!" he exclaimed.

Thorin looked behind as well and his face paled. He had seen that she was pushing Kili towards him at the last second but hadn't seen that she had stayed to hold the warg back.

"She is still up there! Luna!"

Kili was now really shouting and trying to find a way to climb the slope back up which quickly proved impossible.

"We need to help her!"

The others looked in a shocked silence at the entry of the cave, hoping to see the young girl slide down the slope in her turn but nothing came but the noises of the wargs.

"What happened?" Gandalf exclaimed.

The dwarf's eyes were locked on the top of the slope.

"She pushed us in…but didn't follow. There was a warg behind her, it…" he swallowed. "I think it got her"

"No!" Kili shouted, fear and anger clear in his voice. "She is up there, we need to go back!"

"That's impossible, we can't climb back up" Gandalf scolded.

Kili opened his mouth to protest again in anger. He who was never getting mad at anyone for anything, he was now shaking with rage and worry.  
>Before he could say a word though, they heard the sound of a horn up in the plain and they all looked up at the ouverture of the cave. It was definitely not an orc-made horn.<p>

A body suddenly fell down the slope and landed at their feet. The dwarves briefly held their weapons towards him but it was useless, he was dead. An arrow has pierced his throat and Thorin took a look at it.

"Elves" he spat in disgust, throwing the arrow away.

Most of the dwarves frowned but Gandalf's face suddenly lit up.

"Alright then, I suggest we move on" he said in a lighter tone.

"What? But…Luna…" Kili started.

"There is nothing we can do for her now but if she is alright, which I don't doubt she is, she is now safe with the elves who probably just attacked the orc pack. This cave is the entrance to a path that will take us to Rivendell where I am confident we will find her" the wizard told him.

Kili didn't answer but didn't move either as the others started making their way into the narrow path at the bottom of the cave.

"Come" Fili told him as they were the last two standing where they had arrived.

"What if she…what if the elves were too late?"

Fili sighted and put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"The squirrel warrior is tougher than it looks" he simply answered, not able to find any more reassuring words as himself wasn't entirely convinced.

* * *

><p>Luna had a bow strapped on her back that she quickly drew and fitted an arrow into it, aiming at the orc in front of her and trying to ignore the pain in her arm.<p>

"Stay where you are or this arrow will fly" she warned, feeling the warm blood running down her skin beneath her clothes.

That made the orcs laugh.

"Before we kill you, what is your name?" the one in front of her asked.

She sharpened her eyes, she knew that wasn't an innocent question asked just for the pleasure of taking their time before killing her. She had noticed how the orc had looked in shock at the scar on her cheek a few moments ago, it wasn't a hazard. The orcs had assumed she was dead with her father and brother. The pack that had been sent to kill them that night had then been hunted down so fiercely that none had survived. The others probably just thought the dwarves had killed them to claim their revenge over the murders of Laïn and his children, and that was not entirely false, but the main reason had also been so that they wouldn't report their masters that Luna had survived.  
>She couldn't fully remember it yet but she knew that she had spent days, maybe even weeks running away from them in the forest before arriving in front of her friends' house. The pack had followed her too close to the dwarves' and after she woke up, she had learned that none of her pursuers had survived.<p>

"Why? Do you keep a list of the people you kill?"

"Only those as pretty as you"

That made her want to throw up and she fired her arrow that embedded itself straight in the orc's heart. All the others leapt for her at the same time and she expected to die but suddenly, the sound of a horn had them all stop where they were. Snapping her head back, Luna saw a group of riders arriving at great speed and soon, arrows started flying towards the pack.

The wargs started running here and there and Luna took advantage of the rush that had suddenly occurred to dive to where her twin blades had landed and jumped to her feet just on time to slay an orc that had followed her despite the riders coming for them.

Another warg jumped towards her, baring its teeth but was killed by an arrow in the middle of its jump and landed dead on the ground.

"Elves", Luna muttered, watching as the group of riders started chasing the orcs that were still alive and trying to get away.

She turned her glaze to the rock beneath which the rocky slope was hidden but as she stepped towards it, decided to join her companions before the elves could question her presence here, a horse barred her way.

She looked up to see a tall elf sitting on it. He was pointing an arrow at her but lowered his weapon when their eyes met.

"Who are you?" he murmured.

She was saved from answering when the other elves started gathering around her as well and one of them suddenly broke their rank. He was nobly dressed and Luna instantly guessed his identity.

"Lord Elrond" she said in a voice as neutral as she could.

It could only be him, there was only one elven lord living around here, in the valley of Imladris, and although she had never personally met him, she had learned a great deal about him from her father who had instructed his children about all the important people of Middle-Earth, dwarves or not, and when it came to Elrond, Laïn had always shown respect and even kindness for as strange as it had always appeared, the two lords had been very good friends when Thror ruled under the mountain.

"You know me yet I don't recall meeting you" the elf said.

"My father used to speak of you a lot"

"Who is your father?"

She looked up at him and his eyes widened.

"Luna?" he asked.

She nodded. He kneeled in front of her and put a hand on her valid shoulder.

"I have been told you died with your father and brother in an orc attack"

"Yes, but I escaped."

"Did Laïn…?"

She shook her head.

"It is a pleasure to know that his line is not extinct yet and to meet you. What are you doing in these parts?"

She hesitated for a brief moment, wondering whether it was wise to tell him about Thorin and the others but then decided that if her father had trusted this elf and counted him amongst his friends, she could do the same and told him how she was traveling with the company of dwarves plus a hobbit and a wizard and how they had been running from the orcs in the plain before finding the cave where she hadn't had the time to hide. She only omitted the reason of their quest for now, judging that she was not the one he should hear it from.

"Then it was no hasard they found the cave, Gandalf lead you all there to take a safer way to Rivendell. Come, they will follow the hidden pass and arrive soon, we will meet them there."

"My lord Elrond, the lady is hurt"

Elrond's eyes flashed to her injury on her shoulder.

"I'm fine" she lied. "It can wait until we reach Rivendell"

The elven lord nodded then stood up and exchanged a few words in elvish with the elf that had first stopped her.

"Haleth will ride with you" he turned towards her again then walked off to his own horse and started leading his riders back to Imladris.

The elf he had spoken with dismounted from his horse.

"Do you mind, my lady?" he courteously asked.

She shook her head and he gently picked her up to sit her on the horse then sat behind her, taking the reins with one hand and putting his other arm around her waist to hold her.

"I am not a lady" she couldn't help clarifying.

He looked down at her with surprise as they followed the others and smiled.

"How shall I call you then?" he asked.

She raised her brows in surprise. She hadn't excepted him to call her anything at all.

"Just Luna", she answered.

"Well it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance then, Luna."

"The pleasure is mine…" she found herself answering and let her phrase in suspens, not able to recall the name Elrond had called the elf.

"Haleth" he finished for her with another smile.

* * *

><p>Either they rode very fast or the trip was very short because before she even realised they had left the plain, Luna found herself surrendered by mountains again, in one of the most beautiful valleys she had ever seen.<p>

The little group quickly made their way on narrow bridges leading to lord Elrond's home, Rivendell, and as they neared it, she quickly saw the company of dwarves huddling together on a large plateforme when they saw the riders arriving.

They closed their ranks and tightened their grips on their weapons as the elves started circling them and Luna rolled her eyes when she saw they so defiant.

"Lord Elrond!" Gandalf exclaimed when he saw his friend arriving as well.

The elf dismounted and warmly embraced the wizard as they exchanged a few words in elvish.

"Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders. Something or someone might have drawn them near" he finished his phrase in the common tongue.

"Ah, that may have been us" Gandalf innocently admitted.

Elrond turned to the dwarves and Thorin stepped forward, eyeing him cautiously.

"Welcome Thorin, son of Thraïn" he greeted.

"I do not believe we have met"

"You have your grandfather's bearings. I knew Thror when he ruled under the mountain."

"Indeed? He made no mention of you"

To Luna's relief, Elrond did not seem upset by the dwarf's coldness, instead it almost seemed to amuse him.

It's only at that moment that Kili who had been the only one not staring at the elf but instead searching for a sign of Luna that he finally found her, sitting on one of the last arriving horses with an elf.

"Luna!" he cried out, rushing towards her.

The dwarves snapped their heads in her direction as well, relief and big smiles on their faces.

"We found her where she left you, near the hidden pass" Elrond announced. "I thought you might want to have her back"

Despite everything, Thorin gave him a small nod of remerciement.

Haleth dismounted then carefully lifted the young girl to put her down and Kili couldn't stop himself from hugging her tightly, only releasing her when she let out a small gasp of pain.

"You are hurt!"

"Hush, I'm okay"

The dwarves had turned again to Elrond who pronounced a few words in elvish.

"What is he saying? Is he offering us insult?" Gloin exclaimed, raising his axe.

"No, master dwarf, he is offering you food!" Gandalf exclaimed, obviously irritated.

The dwarves looked at each other for a few seconds, exchanged a few words then turned towards Elrond again.

"Well then…lead on"


	8. Rivendell

_**Hi everyone! First of all, Merry Christmas! ^_^  
>Thank you for favouritingfollowing/reviewing my story, it really makes me happy to see that you guys enjoy it, and I would like to give a particular thanks to Artemis, I am very glad you like it that much! I hope you will continue enjoying it, please keep telling me what you think (and that of course goes for all of you, I'm always happy to read your comments!)  
>Enjoy this chapter :) <strong>_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter VII : Rivendell<strong>

"This is going to hurt, stay still" Oïn warned.

"I am fine, it's…Ouch!"

Luna looked at the big blood-covered tooth the healer had just pulled out of her flesh.

"That's not what I call fine" Kili growled.

While the others had gone eating, Oïn had stayed in the room that had been given the company to have a look at Luna's injured shoulder and Fili and Kili hadn't wanted to leave her despite all her protestations.

She looked away, carefully averting her eyes from the wound that looked worst than she had thought now that Oïn had bared it. Other people's wounds had never bothered her, strangely, but she was a bit more sensitive when it came to herself.

"Why on earth would you do such a thing?" Kili scolded. All the relief and happiness he had shown when she had arrived with the elves had now turned into a bit of anger.

"A simple thank you would have been enough" she replied on the same tone.

"You almost killed yourself!"

"_Thank you for saving my life, Luna, otherwise I would just have died a ridiculous death trying to shoot down a whole orc pack with my bow like a little elf_"

Kili's jaw dropped in surprise and he wasn't able to find his words for a few seconds then exploded.

"Isn't that exactly how YOU almost died?! Fool of a woman! I sometimes wonder what goes through your stubborn head!"

"Well maybe if you ran when you are told to, those kinds of things wouldn't happen!" she cried out but Kili had already angrily walked out of the room.

They looked at the place where he had been standing a few seconds earlier then Fili turned to the young girl.

"That was actually a bit mean", he said in a soft voice.

"I just don't…Ouch!" "

"Sorry" Oïn vaguely said, looking at a second tooth he had pulled out of her shoulder.

"I just don't get it, it's not like when we were children and we would put ourselves in dangerous situations without realising it just to have fun…this time, I know what the dangers are and I do it to protect him. It sounded like he thought I had just done it for my pleasure!" she exclaimed.

"It's not that…"

"Then what is it?"

"Kili…he really likes you, you know. When you didn't join us down in the cave, I thought for a moment he would go mad. I have lived with him my entire life, never being separated from him and know him better than anyone so believe me when I say I had never seen him so angry and desperate. He cares for you more than he wants to admit and his apparent anger is just the worry he felt for you coming up as an aftermath"

"Still…"

She was very disappointed in Kili's anger. She asked for nothing of course, she didn't even actually want to hear any thanks but she didn't want him to be angry at her like that either. She couldn't explain why but having him angry at her affected her more than she would have thought.

Fili warmly squeezed her hand and gave her a soft smile.

"Don't worry about him, Luna, he will calm down soon enough"

As she wasn't looking at him, he gently tipped her chin up to look into her eyes.

"Thanks for saving my brother's life"

"I was just doing my job" she answered.

* * *

><p>When Kili left the room, he didn't go far before almost bumping into someone walking in the opposite direction at the end of the corridor.<br>He looked up to see the elf that had been riding with Luna earlier when they had arrived in Rivendell and he didn't know why but it did nothing to ease his anger to find him here, obviously heading towards the room he had just left.

"What do you want?" he asked, more dryly than he wished.

"I am looking for the lady Luna" the elf politely answered though he raised an eyebrow.

_Lady_. This elf was very irritating.

"Let her be, she is quite alright"

"No thanks to you"

Kili could feel his anger boiling inside him and knew it would do him no good to stay here.

"Do not intrude on her" he spat then walked away.

Haleth watched him go then walked in the room and found Luna sitting with two other dwarves who were helping with her wound. He cleared his throat and the three of them noticed he was there.

"My lord Elrond sent me to check on the lady Luna and lets you know that if there is anything you need to heal her, you can ask for it anytime." he announced.

"We have everything we could need" Oïn grumbled in his beard.

"Thank you Haleth", the young girl answered with a smile. She was actually glad to see him.

"Also, I am here to escort you to the dinner if you are ready"

"Can we still go and eat?"

"Of course, you are our guests"

Oïn finished putting a bandage around her shoulder and looked at his work with pride.

"It will be fine, you were lucky but try not to use your arm too much for a few days" he said, packing up his material.

"Thanks Oïn"

She quickly put her clothes over her shoulder again and made a move to get on her feet when a hand suddenly appeared in front of her, offering to help her up.

She was only half-surprised to find Haleth facing her with a smile and she gladly let him help her up. Although she didn't really need it, it was nice for once to have someone offering such delicate attentions, contrary to what Kili had just done.

"If my lady allows me…" he said, this time offering her arm.

She ignored Fili's raised eyebrow and took it.

"Thank you but didn't I say already I wasn't a lady?"

"You beauty prevents me from calling you otherwise"

She looked down to hide her blushing cheeks.

"Well then, let's go"

* * *

><p>The dinner was quite fine and even though the dwarves complained about the lack of meat, they all ate and chatted merrily. Luna tried to avoid Kili's eyes the whole time but that wasn't easy regarding they were sitting almost in front of each other. She had caught another glimpse of anger and irritation in his eyes when he had seen her arriving with Haleth so had decided to simply ignore him.<br>Everything actually went alright for a while, even the young prince seemed to relax and Dwalin who was sitting just in front of him, besides Luna, caught him blinking at an elf maid behind him at some point.  
>When Kili noticed he was being watched, he searched Luna's glance for a second then quickly looked down to his plate.<p>

"I can't say I fancy elf maids myself, they're just creamy skins and high cheekbones" he said as if to justify himself.

Another elf passed behind him and he discreetly peeped a look behind his back.

"Although this one is not half bad" he added with a smirk.

Luna rolled her eyes, irritated. Was he seriously pretending to like elf maids because she had arrived holding Haleth's arm?

"That is not an elf maid" Dwalin informed him.

Kili's head snapped to the elf he had been peeping a look at and when he turned around, it was indeed a male.

The young dwarf's face turned bright red as the others around him started to laugh, including Luna who thought he had well-deserved this.

The end of the dinner went very well after that and the night had already fallen when the dwarves went back to the room they had been assigned to sleep. Only Thorin, Balin, Bilbo and Gandalf didn't follow them as they had to go and speak with lord Elrond of more important matters. When they had left the table and that Luna had seen them walking away in another direction, she had given a questioning glance to Thorin who had slightly shaken his head with a little smile as if to say that she could go and take a well-deserved sleep. She could not deny that she was very happy to be able to go to sleep at last, she was exhausted.

As she unpacked her things and unrolled her blanket, Fili came to do the same next to her, followed as always by Kili who didn't seem angry anymore but guilty and ashamed of himself.

"How is your arm, my lady?" Fili smirked at her.

Both Kili and her shot him a dark look.

"Please don't" she begged in a tired voice.

"Alright, alright, sorry. But seriously, how is your arm?"

"It's fine, I swear"

"I'm glad to hear it"

She gave her a little smile then lied down and barely had the time to wrap herself in the blanket before falling asleep.

_"__Close your eyes. You are the captain of the royal guard of Erebor, standing besides your king's throne. An envoy from another kingdom has arrived quite late the night before and now their diplomat is having an audience with the king with his personal guards around him as he speaks with the king."_

_Luna let her father's words enter her mind and create the images before her eyes. The throne, the king, the diplomat and his guards, Erebor…she didn't remember what Erebor looked like, she had been a new-born baby when Smaug took the mountain so the images she was trying to picture in her mind were purely created with what she had been described of it by the other dwarves. _

_Her brother Lunkin was standing next to her, doing the same exercice. It was probably easier for him, he didn't have to try to imagine what Erebor would look like, he just had to recall it. Plus, he was older and had already much more experience than her, he would definitely make a great captain someday. _

_"__Luna!" _

_She suddenly came back to reality and opened her eyes to find Laïn watching her, obviously irritated. _

_"__Once again, you weren't listening. What did I just asked?" _

_She looked down. _

_"__I don't know, father"_

_"__I said : the diplomat is speaking to the king, what do you do?" _

_"__I…I observe the way he acts and his guards' attitude, I try to find out whether they might be ill-intentioned" _

_"__No" _

_She swallowed and gave a quick look to her brother. _

_Laïn sighted. _

_"__The envoy arrived the night before. You have a whole guard at your command who are sworn to protect the king. Between the moment of their arrival and the moment of the audience, you have had plenty of time to find out about their intentions. If they were bad, you would already have had them revealed and kicked out of the kingdom already. What you do now during the audience is simply to make sure everything goes as planned and keep an eye on the guards just in case to be ready to intervene at the first sign of danger."_

_She nodded. _

_"__Yes, father" _

_"__You need to concentrate, a captain is always watchful and aware of everything that happens within the mountain, and even of some things happening beyond it" _

_"__But father, why do I need to do all this? Lunkin will be the captain, he is ready and he will be a great captain while I will never be" _

_"__If something happens to Lunkin then you will be the captain and in that case, you need to be trained for it" _

_"__But what could happen to Lunkin? We have been hiding in this valley for decades, never daring to step out of it! Shouldn't a captain be at his king's side at all times, no matter the danger and even more when there is actually a danger? That's why you keep telling us and yet we haven't seen the king for years!"_

_Luna instantly regretted her words. She looked down at her feet again, excepting her father to scold her but nothing came. _

_"__Father, I'm…I'm sorry, please forgive me" _

_Laïn shook his head. _

_"__We are here because the orcs are still after us, they will always be and while we don't go back to the lonely mountain, it is not the king they will want to see dead, it is us. If the captains die, the king will be unprotected and easier to kill. Until Thorin calls upon us to go back to Erebor, we remain here. Training is over" _

_And with that, he turned his heels and walked away, leaving Luna to her thoughts and regrets. _

_"__I know how you feel" Lunkin said. _

_She looked across to him._

_"__I wasn't supposed to be the captain either. Logan was"_

_She bit her lip at the mention of their older brother. _

_"__You were too young to understand at the time and you haven't seen it but trust me Luna, the last thing you want is to have those orcs finding you. I saw them at the gates of Moria, I saw them in the ambush that killed Logan" _

_He took a few steps towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. _

_"__I too want to leave this valley and discover new things, see new places and meet new people. But trust me, if the orcs are still out there looking for us, I'd much rather stay here and wait Thorin's orders" _

_"__We could go, rally the old guard and slay those orcs. A captain never runs from a fight, right?" _

_"__Nor does he look for one when it is wiser to avoid it" _

_He gave a deep sight and squeezed her shoulder. _

_"__There used to be an old saying in Erebor…If the captains fall, then the line of Durin will be no more. History seems to have linked our line with theirs, it is just an old saying but I do believe there is truth in it. If the orcs manage to kill us, the word will spread amongst them and eventually to the whole world that there is nothing standing between them and the king anymore. You remember your friends Fili and Kili, right? You don't want to see them die, do you?"_

_She shook her head. _

_"__If you don't do it for us, do it for them" _

The images of her dream blurred and melted into another scene.

_She slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she felt was a searing pain flashing in her whole body. She slowly realised that she was underneath something heavy and needed some air. It took her a lot of efforts but she managed to extirpate herself from the rumbles of her home and looked around her. _

_It was still night and a few flames were consuming themselves on the ruins of the house. She wondered how she had survived when it had all collapsed. The grass around the ruins was red with the blood of all the dwarves who laid dead on the ground, killed by the orcs and underneath the wrecks she was standing on were buried the bodies of her father and brother. _

_Tears starting dropping down her face and only then did she realise that she was clutching onto something : her father's sword. _

_She looked down at herself, she had lost the ring of her family in the fight or in the burning house and she was covered in blood and ashes. Her arm was hurting the most and she saw that a piece of wood from the house had opened her skin from her collar bone to her elbow when it had collapsed. _

_She was in a very pitiful state, unable to think properly and barely able to walk but she couldn't stay here.  
>Not even trying to contain her tears, she slowly made her way out of the ruins and between the dozens of bodies lying on the grass then into the forest that would take her out of the valley and towards a house where she had hoped to go back to ever since she had last seen it almost seventy years ago.<em>

Luna woke up so suddenly she had to bite her fist to prevent herself from crying out and wake the others up as well.  
><em><br>_She held her hands together to try and stop her shaking and tried to steady her breathing. She startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around to find Kili watching her with a concerned look on his face.

"Ki…Kili…", she muttered.

He put a finger on his lips and gave a small nod towards the others who were all sleeping then stood put, lifted her up on her feet and took her hand to lead her out of the room.

They walked to a little terrace that gave quite a great view of the valley even at night and sat down on some steps.

"Are you okay?" Kili asked.

"Yes…it was just a dream, I'm sorry"

"Don't be. Did you see the orcs?"

She looked down at her hands resting in her lap.

"Luna?"

"I think I'm starting to remember"

Kili looked at her, unsure of what to do then put his arm around her shoulder and held her close to him and she snuggled against his chest.

They had done this a thousand times and yet both of them oddly felt a bit awkward, as if they were strangers who had just met. They avoided the other's eyes to hide their blushing cheeks. It was weird, it shouldn't be that way. They had always played together, fought, hugged and crawled next to each other to sleep at night and yet, at this very moment, it felt as if all that had never happened.

"I am with you" Kili whispered.

"I know"

A little moment of silence passed and comfort came back between them. Luna secretly wished this moment would never end, she was listening to Kili's heart beating in his chest and it was the most relaxing sound she had ever heard.  
>The young prince didn't wish for less ; the same morning he had feared he might never see her again and now that she was between his arms, he didn't want to let her go for all the gold in Erebor. He rested his chin on her head, her curls soft against his skin and he closed his eyes.<p>

"I am sorry for what I said and how I acted earlier" he said after a little while.

She gently left his arms and looked at him.

"I was just…stupid" he added, regretting that she hadn't stayed against him.

"No, I shouldn't have said what I said either. But you need to understand this, Kili, what I do, I do it to protect you, Fili and Thorin. When I tell you to run, you have to trust me"

"But I don't want to lose you. I was so worried this morning when you didn't follow us into the cave. If something had happened to you, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself"

She chuckled.

"I'm sorry but this is something you will have to accept. I protect you. You can't reverse the roles. You know I can handle myself, right?"

He gave her a little smile. Their little moment of sweet awkwardness had passed and the usual good mood between them had come back.

"Just promise me you will stop doing crazy things" he said.

"I promise to stop doing crazy things if they are not necessary"

"Well it's a start, I guess…"

She grinned at him.

"So there you are!" a voice suddenly exclaimed behind them.

Snapping their heads back, they found Fili standing there, watching them with a little smirk on his face.

"Am I intruding on something?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

"No!" the both exclaimed at the same time, causing his grin to grow wider.

"Well then…"

He came and sat on the other side of Luna.

"Did you two make peace?" he asked.

Luna smiled and Kili nodded.

"I'm glad to hear it. I'm sorry my baby brother annoyed you, my lady"

She gave him a little kick with her elbow.

"Stop it"

"Sorry, my lady"

Kili couldn't contain a laugh.

"So what's with that elf?" he asked.

"There's nothing with Haleth"

"Mmh, Haleth, right? Does he actually remember your name too or does he keep calling you a lady for the pleasure of courting you?" Fili teased her.

"Nobody is courting anyone"

"_Your beauty prevents me from calling you otherwise_, yeah sure, you must definitely hear that everyday. Isn't that how Bombur greets you every morning?"

"Wait, did he actually tell her that?" Kili exclaimed with a sheepish smile on his face.

"At least he knows how to speak to women, mister squirrel" she noted.

"Maybe he could teach you, Kee"

Kili tried to kick his brother above Luna sitting between them.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, separating them. "Enough about him, we will be leaving soon anyway"

"But if we weren't, would you let him do?"

"Fili, no"

"Too bad for him"

"He wasn't courting me. What's with you two? These days you always speak of me getting into a relationship"

"Well, we are traveling across Middle-Earth with a very beautiful girl who will certainly catch the eyes of more than one man. We have to make sure you end up with someone worthy of you"

Despite everything, that made her smile and brought a feeling of warmth to her heart.  
>She put her arms around their shoulders and brought them towards her until their foreheads touched.<p>

"I don't know what I'd do without you two"

"Manage to jump into the cave on time?" Fili couldn't help himself and she gently banged their heads together.

"Silly princes" she sighted with a little laugh.


	9. The road still lies long

**Chapter VIII : The road still lies long**

The orc slowly made his way on top of the hill where his master was waiting for him in the ruins of the old watchtower. Other orcs and their wargs watched him pass with evil smiles, they all knew he wasn't bringing good news to their leader and that it would give them quite a show.

When he arrived in the old ruins, he was there, turning his back on him, watching the plain where night had fallen, his giant white warg always close to him. The orc swallowed nervously as the beast growled at him and he brought his attention back to the big white Gundabad orc he had come to see ; Azog the Defiler.

"The dwarves, master…" he started in black speech, trying to keep a calm and steady voice, "…we lost them"

The white wolf bared its teeth and he didn't dare to step any closer. He could hear the growls of the other beasts behind him.

"Ambushed by elvish filth, we were…" he tried to defend himself.

"I don't want excuses" Azog snapped in a deep and terrifying voice, using the same language as him.

He turned around to face his lieutenant and the orc felt his blood freezing in his veins.

"I want the head of the dwarf king" he said, making his way towards him.

"We were outnumbered…there was nothing we could do"

The orc knew it was vain, he had failed Azog and the Defiler was not of a forgiving nature. Worst of all, that wasn't all he had to announce and he could tell that what he was about to add was going to make the situation even worse.

"Master…amongst the dwarves, there was a…a girl" he mumbled.

Azog's eyes sharpened.

"She had a moon-shaped scar on her face…a scar left by dragon fire"

The giant Gundabad orc watched him from all his height, clenching his fist.

"That's impossible. Their captain was killed and his filthy children died with him" he gritted between his teeth in a tone so threatening that even the wargs behind slightly backed away.

"His daughter must have survived one way or another…but she is just a girl, she will be easy to get rid off! Who is she to cause you worry? Just a filth, just a little girl, she…aargh!"

Azog had suddenly grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up from the ground.

"Just a little girl you say, yet she survived and is now standing on my way to Oakenshield. Have you forgotten what the captains did to our people?"

"No! Master, let me go, I will bring you her head, I promise! I always fight for you…today, I barely escaped with my life!"

"Far better you had…paid with it" Azog whispered then threw the orc away for the wargs to devour.

He then turned towards the other orcs who were watching him with fear clear on their faces.

"The dwarf-scum will show themselves soon enough. Send out word…there is a price on their heads. Bring me the girl!"

* * *

><p>"Ah, Luna!" Bilbo exclaimed, finding her sitting down on a little bench under a porch. "Do you know where the others are?"<p>

"They all went for a bath"

"For a bath? Where?"

"I dare not tell you…", she sighted, "but I think the elves won't be very happy to find out"

The hobbit gave her a questioning look but she just shrugged her shoulder.

"Why were you looking after them anyway?" she asked as he sat next to her.

"Oh, nothing, I was just wondering where they had all gone when I noticed it was quite calm this morning"

She chuckled and a little silence settled during which she carefully watched him and saw how he really seemed at peace for the first time since the beginning of their quest. It was true that this place was really relaxing, herself hadn't felt so good in a long time. When she was discussing with the dwarves, she often found herself going for long walks in the gardens or the maze of corridors and was more than once joined by Haleth in who she had found a very agreeable companion.

"You really like this place, don't you?" she asked.

"Well, it's nice…I mean…I never thought I would get the chance to come here"

He smiled to himself.

"It's a bit…it feels like home" he added in a lower voice.

"You will see your home again, Bilbo"

"How do you know?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Feminine intuition. It's a nice sword Gandalf gave you, have you ever used one before?"

He shook his head, looking down at his feet.

"You should learn then, you will need it. Give me a few more days until my shoulder is healed and I will teach you"

"You will?"

"Yes. I am sure you can quickly learn a few things that will be helpful"

He didn't seem very reassured and she clapped his shoulder as she stood up.

"I am looking after you, Bilbo" she whispered with a little smile before walking away.

The hobbit watched her go with a stunned expression on his face. She was by far the member of the company he appreciated the most so far. Of course, he had grown quite fond of all of them, even Thorin, but despite everything none showed him the same respect and kindness as she did.

* * *

><p>Luna was in search of Gandalf, there was something on her mind that she needed to tell him and only him. Not even Thorin should hear this, at least not for now.<p>

She quickly found the wizard, he was walking up a flight of steps with Elrond, both seemed to be in deep conversation and the young girl realised they had been having such talks ever since they had arrived in Rivendell.

"Ah, Luna" Gandalf said when he saw her waiting for them on top of the stairs. His face had been one of worry but he brought a smile to his lips when she gave him a questioning look.

"How is your shoulder?" Elrond asked her.

"Good, thank you. Gandalf…I'm sorry to interrupt but there is something I need to tell you and I think it is wiser to do it before the others come back"

The wizard raised an eyebrow, his smile disappearing from his face. He knew the young girl quite well, she was way too loyal to Thorin to ever hide anything from him. If she insisted on doing such a thing though, it couldn't possibly be good.

"Is it something the lord Elrond should not hear either?" he asked.

She flashed a quick look at the elf, seemed to debate the subject for a few seconds then shook her head.

"No it's alright, my father trusted you and would have wanted me to tell you as well if it means it could help in protecting the king" she said.

"Let's go to my office then, we will have all the privacy we need there"

They followed Elrond to the large and quite impressive room that was his office and Luna couldn't keep herself from looking around her in awe when she entered the room. The walls were lined up with shelves containing an uncountable amount of books, some small enough to fit in her hand, others so big she wouldn't have been able to carry them by herself. She also guessed that some were older than anything she knew and more valuable than she could imagine. In the center of the room, there was a massive desk where piles of parchments were waiting to be read or written.  
>Elrond sat himself on the big chair behind it and invited his guests to sit on comfortable seats facing him on the other side of the desk.<p>

"So what is that important matter?" Gandalf asked.

"When we were chased by those orcs in the plain, after I pushed Thorin and Kili down into the cave and stayed back…at some point, before you could arrive with your riders, I found myself pinned to the ground by an orc. He raised his dagger and was about to kill me but then he suddenly stopped when he saw my scar"

Her fingers unconsciously traced the white mark on her cheek, below her eye.

Gandalf's face had taken a grave expression;

"Did he say anything?" he asked in a low tone.

"No, I didn't give him the time and got him off me but then, the pack circled me and they wanted to know who I was"

Elrond's eyes were going from the young girl to Gandalf's face that had paled. Something was escaping him, he couldn't understand why that sounded so bad.

"Gandalf, do you think they might have recognised me?" she asked.

The wizard mumbled something inaudible, lost in his thoughts.

"Gandalf?" she called.

He looked at her in concern.

"It is as I feared"

"What is going on?" Elrond asked.

The wizard turned towards him.

"The orcs don't know Luna survived the attack. Azog assumed she died with her father and her brother and that the line of the captains is extinct. As you know, the orcs had been trying to kill the captains of Erebor for a long time even before Laïn and much more then when he took on the role and none but declared war to them. Killing the captains meant two things to them : firstly they would finally get rid of that line that they most profoundly hate for all the orcs they have slain and secondly they would more easily be able to get to the line of Durin and forever destroy the kings of the lonely mountain. They would have succeeded at the battle of Moria when they injured Laïn and killed his first son Logan if Thorin had not then sent him to the hidden valley to hide with Lunkin and Luna.  
>For years the orcs have searched them and when they finally found their place a few months ago, they wanted to make sure none of the three remaining members of that family would survive but against all our hopes, Luna did.<br>The dwarves of the blue mountains had already been hunting down the orcs who had murdered their captains to avenge him but when she was found alive, it was made sure none of them would escape to go and spread words that she at least had survived. If the orcs believed her to be dead, not only would she be safe for at least a little while but also, we would have an element of surprise against Azog. That last part, Thorin doesn't know"

"What do you mean he doesn't know?"

"He still ignores it but Azog the Defiler didn't die in the battle of Moria. He is alive and has nothing but revenge in his mind" Luna explained. "Those orcs in the plain didn't find us by chance, they had been looking for us and he was the one who sent them. That is why I joined this quest. I knew Azog was alive when the orcs attacked my home. They would have needed someone to reunite them and to keep sending them to find my father. There is only one orc who has the power to unite their legions and keep them under his control and I'm afraid that he has heard of this quest sooner than I had hoped he would"

"Why don't you tell Thorin?"

"He will learn soon enough" Gandalf piped in, "but it is better if he ignores it for now. He too will seek his revenge for what happened to his grandfather and his father if he can and we can't afford to lose him. Not when his people have placed so much hope on him. He wanted Luna in this quest anyway because she is now Laïn's only heir and has proved herself to him. She will protect his nephews against the dangers of the journey. What he doesn't know is that the greatest danger she will protect them and himself from is the Defiler"

"But when Azog will learn that you are alive, and from what you told us that might be soon, he will do everything to kill you"

"Yes but he would have found out at some point anyway. We were simply hoping that it would be as late as possible. It doesn't matter anyway, it is for the best. Azog will set his eyes on me the moment he will learn I still live and hopefully Thorin will be his second priority until he has killed me. That's exactly what we want ; deviate his focus from the king"

"If we had let the news of Luna's survival reach him, he would have come at once to finish her while she was still unable to defend herself because of her injuries and before the quest could even start" Gandalf added. "Now that she has recovered and took part of this quest, his chances of getting rid of the line of Durin are at least a bit lower"

Elrond remained silent for a couple of minutes, looking at Luna from a renewed point of view. He had seen at first that she was Laïn's heir not only by blood but by personality. She had the same gleam of courage and defiance in her eyes as her father used to and although he had not seen her fight the orcs, he had guessed at once that she was everything but a damsel in distress when he had found her in the plain.  
>But now, after hearing their plan, he could only look at her with admiration and respect. She was young for a dwarf -not to mention for an elf- and had just gone through the collapsing of her world and yet there she was, secretly planning to throw herself at the Defiler to give a chance to her king.<p>

"Your father would be proud of you" he said after a little while. "You make a great captain"

"I am not a captain" she instantly replied. "Not unless Thorin wishes me to be one"

"Yet you are ready to put yourself in Azog's way to protect him while he doesn't even know Azog is still alive. I knew Laïn very well and have often heard him talking of the role of captain. He told me once that there is no better captain than one whose king, no matter how suspicious and prudent, doesn't even realise how many dangers he is kept from everyday"

"It sounds like my father didn't only keep his lectures for his children then" she said with a little smile that Elrond returned then she turned to Gandalf again. "I had hoped we would at least have had the time to reach the Eastern side of the Misty Mountains before Azog heard of me. Hopefully, he won't unleash his troops against us too soon. If we can reach the borders of Mirkwood before that, then I believe our chances will be high enough. He won't follow us into the old forest."

"A chain of mountains and many leagues lie between us and Mirkwood…and what awaits us beneath the trees of this forest is not to be taken too lightly in any case. We will focus on one thing at a time, our road is still long...Azog will have a hard time following us while we are in the mountains and hopefully then I know someone who might help us"

"Who's that?" Luna asked.

"You will find out if we reach him…and if he agrees to help us."

The young dwarf frowned but knew the wizard too well to know that he wouldn't say more on that friend of him so she simply shrugged her shoulders.

"That is all that I had to say. Lord Elrond, do I have your word that nothing of what you heard here today will reach the dwarves' ears?"

"I promise you"

She nodded.

"I'd better go before they come back"

And she took leave of them.

Gandalf looked at the door of the office that had closed behind her for a few minutes until Elrond drew him out of his thoughts.

"You do know that if she finds herself face to face with Azog, she won't stand many chances" he frowned at him.

The wizard didn't answer at once, he was kept in his thoughts for a little moment then turned his eyes towards the elf.

"Luna is a very fierce warrior, she…"

"Gandalf. No matter how brave or how good she is, it is Azog the Defiler we are talking about and he wants her head at least as much as he wants Thorin's" Elrond interrupted him.

The wizard sighted, he looked sad and tired.

"I don't understand how you could agree to this. The girl is planning her own death"

"I told her it was too dangerous but she would hear nothing. She is determined to protect the line of Durin until death if needed. She is the one who didn't want to tell Thorin about Azog in the first place and despite everything, I can only agree with her. The least Thorin knows about him, the better it will be. The dwarves have to take back Erebor and they won't be able to do it without him to lead them. But, if we want Thorin to survive until then, we need Luna. If you don't trust her, trust me"

"I do trust her, just like I trusted her father. I just hope she will live through this"

"So do I" Gandalf sighted, "…so do I…"

* * *

><p>As Luna was making her way back towards the room that had been given to the dwarves, the scene from the chase in the plain replayed in her mind. If the orcs had indeed recognised her, by now they would probably have gone to tell Azog about her.<br>She bit her lip, she really had hoped he wouldn't bother them for at least a few more weeks but after all, Gandalf was maybe right ; while they were in the mountains, he wouldn't show himself too much. The danger would be the greatest between the mountains and the old forest when they would be more exposed.

She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. The wizard was right, one thing at a time. They had at least reach Rivendell with everyone and if Azog was to show himself soon, she was ready.

When she arrived in the room, she was surprised to find the dwarves who had come back from their bath packing their things up.

"Are we leaving?" she asked.

"Yes" Thorin answered. "We have to reach the mountain before Durin's day, we can't afford to remain too long anywhere. The road is still long, we don't know what might delay us more on the way"

She nodded. That at least was very true.

"Do you want me to go and fetch Gandalf?"

He shook his head.

"He will join us later"

She gave him a concerned look but he turned his heels and went back to packing.

She let out a sight, not doubting he was still angry at the wizard for taking them to Rivendell. This really wasn't going to be easy…

She then hurriedly walked to the spot where she had left her stuff, realising all the others were almost done packing and that she still had to start. As she arrived near her bag, she found Kili who was already done with his.

"Where have you been, young lady?" he grinned at her.

"Just walking around, enjoying the tranquility of your absence"

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to Haleth?"

She shot him an irritated look.

"This is getting annoying"

"Sorry" he said with a sheepish smile.

She was quickly done and put her coat back on then followed the others along the corridors then down the steps that would take them out of the valley.

"My lady!"

Luna, Kili and a few of the dwarves at the back of the group turned around to see Haleth coming towards them.

"Speaking of the devil…" Kili muttered in a dark voice before the young girl pushed them forward.

"Go on, I'm coming" she said, shooting a warning glance at the young dwarf.

He followed the others, a dark look on his face. Until the end this elf would have played with his nerves. Fili who hadn't seen what had just happened looked at his brother's face in concern.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The elf who grew fond of Luna is bidding her farewell" Ori innocently answered then quickly looked down under Kili's glance while Fili's face was brighting up with a huge smile he wasn't able to subdue. He didn't try to tease his brother though, despite what Kili was pretending, he was growing more and more certain everyday that his baby brother was starting to see Luna from another perspective and this situation could reveal way too interesting to risk spoiling it now by unnecessary jokes.

"Are you leaving already?" Haleth asked Luna when he arrived in front of her.

"Yes, our road still lies long ahead of us, we can't afford any delay"

"But you barely stayed here…there is so much more to see, you could all rest before going towards many dangers once again."

"I am sure there is, but unfortunately it is not my choice. I regret that I didn't get the chance to see Elrond off. Will you please thank him for me for everything he did?"

"Of course. I wish you had stayed longer but if you must go then…keep an eye on those dwarves"

"I will" she chuckled.

"That young one…he is very fond of you, you know. And I know you are too, maybe more than you will admit"

She blushed.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Kili is just a friend and one of those I must protect"

"Yet, I didn't say his name but you directly thought of him"

Her blush intensified and he gave her an amused smile.

"It was a pleasure to find you in that plain" he said. "Will you come back to Rivendell someday?"

"Who knows…if we reclaim the mountain and everything is settled, I might need a vacation here"

"Make sure to bring your friend along. I like him"

She had a little laugh.

"I am convinced he will like you too one day" she said.

"Well, in the meanwhile…take care of yourself, they need you" he paused for a few seconds and looked fondly at her. "Go on now, they are waiting for you, little friend"

"Goodbye, Haleth" she waved at him with a big happy smile as she turned her heels and ran back to where the others were indeed waiting.

"Farewell, Luna" he whispered.

Thorin moved on as soon as she saw her arriving and she took back her place at the back of the group.

"What did he want?" Kili asked in a voice that he failed to keep natural.

"To tell me how much he likes you, Kili, and how your departure leaves him heart-broken and forever inconsolable"

"Luna!"

She joined her laugh to Fili's and the young brunette looked down at his feet to hide his red cheeks. Although it grieved her to leave Haleth, she was happy to have made a new friend here.

The young girl's attention was brought to the head of the group though when she heard Thorin calling to Bilbo who was looking back at Rivendell with sadness in his eyes.

"Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up!"

Bilbo sighted and Luna warmly squeezed his shoulder when she came to where he was standing.

"Come on Bilbo" she tried to cheer him up. "Let's go get that mountain back!"


	10. Storytelling and hidden talent

_**Happy New Year everyone! :) Thanks for the new favorites/follows and the reviews. As always, I am very happy to know that you enjoy this story so far, I am very trying my best to make it as interesting as possible! There hasn't been too much of it for now, but soon things will get a bit more explicit between Kili and Luna.  
>Enjoy this chapter! <strong>_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter IX : Storytelling and hidden talents<strong>

"Keep your feet apart…yes that's it, shoulder-width. That way, you stand strong against any foe" Luna looked at Bilbo who was positioning himself as she had taught him. He kept a firm grip on his sword, not sure whether he really wanted to do this.

He had thought it was a great idea when the young girl had first talked about it, he needed to learn to defend himself but the first few times they had actually done it, he had just felt ridiculous. It seemed that he would never be able to fight like those warriors he was traveling with, he would forever be a burden who ran out of his home with little silly dreams of adventure.

"Excellent" she said with a satisfied smile then unsheathed her own sword. "Ready?"

He swallowed nervously, of course he wasn't ready, he never was but as he had done the other times they had practiced together, he nodded.

"Block my blows" she said and in an instant, she dived towards him.

The hobbit knew she would never hurt him ; she always stopped the blows he couldn't avoid or hit him with the flat side of her blade.

He managed to block her when she attacked the first time, avoided her second blow by hurriedly stepping away and as he tried to move away from the third, he stumbled and fell backwards.

He let out a little moan of pain as he found himself lying on his back on the ground and gladly took Luna's hand when she offered to pull him up back on his feet.

"We will stop here for today" she said.

He sighted in relief. They had been training for what felt like hours already and his body was aching all over.

"You are getting better" the girl commented, putting her sword back into its sheath. "Your progress is quite impressing"

"No it's not"

She gave him a surprised look.

"It's nice of you to try and encourage me like that but I know I am doing a terrible job"

"What?"

"We have been doing this for at least two or three weeks already and I still lamentably fall to the ground after a couple of seconds. The others are right about me, I am not made for adventure"

"No one says so anymore"

"I know that's what you all think…well maybe not you, but that's because it's you"

"What is that supposed to mean?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You always believe in everyone"

"No, I don't, I only believe in those who are worth it"

The compliment seemed to have no effect on the hobbit though.

"Bilbo, you think you are bad at fighting because you compare yourself to the others but they are all warriors who have been doing this all their lives while you only just started. Trust me when I say that most of them took the same time you took to be able to block three blows just to be able to properly hold their sword"

He just shrugged his shoulders and picked up his blade. Luna watched him with concern on her face. Ever since they had left Rivendell, the hobbit had been a lot more silent and reserved than usual and she knew that he missed the Shire a lot.

"Your neighbours will be quite surprised when they will see you coming back with this elvish blade" she said to try and light up his mind.

"I think they will be surprised to see me come back at all"

"Have you already thought of how you will start your story?"

"My story?"

"Yes, everyone in Hobbiton will want to hear where you ran off to. If you are to tell them about everything that happened to you, you might as well start thinking about a good way of putting it"

"Even now I wouldn't know how to start"

"Well then, you need to think about it. I can help you if you want, I have never been as fond as you of books and stories but I believe that if we combine our efforts we will build a beautiful tale to tell all your neighbours"

"That sounds like a good idea" Bilbo admitted, his lips finally curling into a little smile.

"Great! Come on now, let's go back to the camp"

They made their way back to where they had left the others earlier and found them sitting around the fire, already eating a stew made by Bofur who had kept two bowls for them.

Bilbo was thankful for finally being able to sit down and put something in his stomach. Those training sessions always took all the energy he had left after a day of intense walking in the mountains. Now that they had no more ponies since that night when the trolls had captured them -which already felt like so long ago-, they had to walk the rest of the way to Erebor and the hobbit sometimes found himself wishing for his old ride, no matter how bad he had disliked it at the beginning.

"So for a start…at which moment exactly do you want to start your story?" Luna asked, blowing on her stew to cool it down a little bit.

Bilbo swallowed the big portion he had been able to fit inside his mouth and thought about it for couple of minutes.

"I guess…at the moment when you all arrived that night at Bag-End while I was just getting ready to have a nice and tranquil dinner" he answered.

She chuckled at the memory.

"Or not, actually it really started when Gandalf visited me on that morning and told me he was looking for someone to share in an adventure. I should have known I hadn't so easily gotten myself rid of him…"

She let out a little laugh.

"Sorry" she said as he raised an eyebrow at her. "Indeed, wizards are quite unpredictable. That sounds like a good idea"

The hobbit didn't seemed entirely convinced yet though and Ori who was sitting nearby caught their pensive looks.

"Excuse me, what are you both thinking about?" he asked in his usual shy voice.

"We are trying to find a proper way for Biblo to start his story when he will go home and his friends will want to know where he went" Luna answered. "Oh, but of course! Ori, why didn't I think of you earlier? You are a very good writer, maybe you can help us"

"Well, I don't know if I'm that good…" the dwarf blushed, "but I can try"

"It's not easy…" Bilbo thoughtfully said. "There are not many books about hobbits, I don't know how to start…We are not usually part of the great stories, I don't even think I've actually ever read one including Halflings"

"Neither have I" Ori shrugged his shoulders. "Hobbits are not really well-known outside the borders of the Shire unfortunately"

"Well that's it then!" Luna exclaimed. "Bilbo, you need to start your story by talking about hobbits. That way, the people of the Shire will be pleased to have a story that actually starts by flattering them and the people beyond the Shire will learn more about them"

"I think that's a good idea" Ori nodded.

"That doesn't sound too bad indeed…_Concerning Hobbits_…"

"I like the sound of that" Luna said.

Ori took his notepad out of his bag and started scribbling on it.

Bilbo opened his mouth as if to say something but frowned and scratched his head.

"I think there should be something before that though…not a whole chapter…more like a prologue to set the bases of the story" he said.

While he and Luna started to think about what could serve as a good introduction to the tale, Ori wrote some more then looked up at them with a little satisfied smile.

"I think it would be better to start with one hobbit in particular before speaking of the others. We have to set the decor and introduce the main character first. Tell me what you think of this" he cleared his throat. "_In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole full of worms and oozy smells. It was a hobbit hole, and that means good food, a warm hearth, and all the comforts of home_"

Bilbo smiled, more to himself than to Ori and Luna winked at the dwarf scribe who blushed.

"I really like that" the hobbit said in a slightly absent voice. "You do are very good"

"Didn't I say so?" Luna piped in. "Alright, I see that you two are more creative than me when it comes to that, I will let you work on it"

And she stood up and walked away towards where Fili and Kili were sitting not far from their uncle.

The two story-writers watched her go then Bilbo turned towards Ori again.

"May I please take a look at what you've written?"

"Sure" the dwarf handed him his notepad and the hobbit reread the few lines that had already been written. He also noticed at that moment a little drawing Ori had scribbled in the corner of the page and noticed that the dwarf had managed to draw in details a tree in that little corner.

"Hey, that's really nice…I didn't know you could draw that well"

The dwarf looked over Bilbo's shoulder at his drawing and blushed again.

"Oh, that's just a little thing…I can't really say that I'm good but I like drawing, it makes me feel relaxed and at peace during the quest"

"What do you usually draw?"

"It depends of what I see…May I?"

Bilbo handed him his notebook back and the dwarf turned a few pages and started to show him some of his drawings.

"That little tree, I saw it a few days ago while we were walking, I just found it beautiful. There, I drew a flower from the gardens in Rivendell…oh and here, the trolls when they were turned to stone"

"That's amazing…wait, is that my teapot?"

Ori stopped on a drawing of a teapot and blushed. It was indeed one that he had seen in Bag-End.

"Yes…I found it quite pretty that night so I drew it. It's for you if you want, it will remind you of your home"

"Th…thanks" he mumbled as the dwarf gave him the drawing of his teapot. "What's that one?" he then asked, seeing another one hidden beneath a few sheets.

"Oh, that's nothing…just a sketch…"

Bilbo raised an eyebrow at Ori's reddening face.

"Can't I see it?"

The dwarf gave a quick, anxious look around then leant closer to the hobbit.

"Then promise me you won't tell the others about this one. Especially not Luna"

"I promise…"

Ori gave one more quick look across to where the young girl was sitting with Fili and Kili and carefully showed Bilbo his drawing.

It was the beginning of a portrait. The details hadn't been drawn yet, only the shape of the face and the first sketches of beautiful curls framing it.

"Is this…Luna?" he asked.

"Well it will be hopefully when it will be over, it's just a start. I want to give it to her as her birthday present."

"I am sure it will look great, what a good idea"

"Thanks. But you won't tell her, right?"

"I promised I wouldn't. When is her birthday?"

"It's in November. As she was born the same day Smaug took Erebor, it is unfortunately never a happy date to remember…but normally, if everything goes well we should have settled back into the mountain for her next birthday, Durin's day being in October, so we will all be in the mood to celebrate for once"

"It's such a great idea, I'm sure she will like it"

Oïn had a little proud smile. He was already looking forward to the day he would be able to give Luna her present.

"I really had no idea you were so talented…this is so realistic" Bilbo exclaimed, taking another look at his teapot.

"Would you want one?"

"A portrait?"

"Yes, would you like a portrait of yourself to go with your story?"

"That sounds a bit narcissistic, doesn't it?"

"It's for future generations, so they will know the face of the hero of the story they are reading"

Blbo chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

"If you want, why not after all"

Ori gave a little smile and they started talking about books and arts.

* * *

><p>A bit later, while night had fallen over the campement and that most of the company were sleeping, four of the dwarves had remained sitting near the fire : Dwalin who was holding the watch, and Thorin, Balin and Luna.<p>

"Everything is going well so far" Thorin said in a low voice to avoid waking the others up.

It wasn't rare that the four of them found themselves discussing about the quest together. Thorin was of course after all, their leader and rightful king, Balin was and had always been his counsellor, Dwalin was one of his fiercest fighters and Luna was to bear the title of captain of the royal guard.

"Indeed, we left Rivendell three weeks ago and there is still no sign of the orcs" Balin agreed in the same hushed tone.

Only Luna bit her lip.

"It is strange that Gandalf hasn't joined us yet" she said.

"He mustn't be far behind us. We won't leave the mountains without waiting for him anyway"

She absentmindedly nodded.

"How is the hobbit's training?" Thorin asked her.

"Actually quite good. He is better than I'd thought and progresses quickly. Of course it's only just the beginning but I believe that he will soon be able to properly defend himself in a battle, shall we encounter any"

The dwarf did not seem very convinced but Balin shook his head with a little smile.

"I don't doubt she is right, you forget it is part of the captain's job to select and train the best warriors she can find to compose the guard" he softy said. "If she thinks he will do good, then he will"

Luna opened her mouth to protest but Thorin nodded.

"I did not forget" he smiled at her. "When we will have taken our mountain back, we will restore the guard. Six of the best fighters amongst our people to follow the captain"

"Five, I'm still here" Dwalin corrected.

Thorin turned towards him and nodded. Indeed, Dwalin was the last member that remained of the last royal guard. The five other guards had died either facing Smaug or facing orcs.

"If the captain will have me, then I'm in" he added for Luna.

She slightly bowed her head but bit her lips. Would that warrior who had obeyed her father follow the orders of a young girl such as her?

"You will be the one to decide first of all if you want me to take on my father's role" she told Thorin.

"I am not asking myself the question anymore" he answered.

She gave him a little nod to acknowledge the compliment.

Balin's lips stretched into a soft smile and he stood up.

"I am going to sleep. We have another long day of walking waiting for us tomorrow"

Thorin nodded.

"Do you need help to hold the watch?" Luna asked Dwalin who shook his head.

"No, don't ye worry, go get some rest, the lads haven't obviously been able to wait for you" he chuckled.

They all looked over at where Fili and Kili were sleeping, rolled in their blankets with an empty space and a third blanket prepared between them for Luna to come and do the same.

Balin's grin grew wider and even Thorin couldn't keep his lips from curling into a little smile.

"It's nice to see that some things never change" the old counsellor declared, remembering very well the time when Luna had lived with Dis and her sons and how the three little dwarflings always used to sleep snuggled against each other at night.

Luna's cheeks slightly turned pink and she simply shrugged her shoulders. After bidding the others a goodnight, she walked to where Fili and Kili were and indeed, crawled between them, pulling the blanket over her. Both were slightly snoring but that didn't even matter to her, she would never sleep anywhere else that close to them. Just like when she was a child, she always felt safer and even her nightmares were scarcer and didn't seem as scary when she was near them. In addition now, she also felt like it would be easier to protect them as well from any harm should they be under attack during the night.

Kili mumbled something inaudible in his sleep and she subdued a little smile from her face before falling asleep in her turn.

_Keep walking, she had to keep walking. If she stopped, she would die, according of course that she wasn't dead already…no, that could not be, if she was dead, it wouldn't be so hard to keep going. If she was dead, her family would be here with her ; her father, Lunkin,…, Logan and maybe…yes, maybe even her mother that she had never really known as she was dead the day of her birth, killed by a dragon.  
>She had been the first to die, Luna bitterly thought, and she would be the last. Whether she would fall in a few years or in a couple of minutes, it seemed that her line was doomed. <em>

_No, she couldn't think like that, she had to keep going. The orcs weren't far behind. They knew she was alive, they had found her once already in the forest, a few days after the attack in the hidden valley. Once again, she had barely escaped with her life. How, she did not know, but she had seen the teeth of their wargs from very close…far too close actually.  
>She raised a hand to her middle on which the jaws of the monster had closed and winced in pain. She had bandaged the wound with a strip of what had once been her nightgown but that was now just a dirty torn rag. She hoped it would be enough until she reached her friends, in the meanwhile all she could do was to keep walking, no matter the pain, no matter the exhaustion and no matter the cold of the winter that had settled in the blue mountains.<br>She was clutching to her father's sword, never daring to let go of her grip on it. If she hadn't had it when the orcs had found her, she would be long dead by now. She wasn't sure how she had found the strength to push them back, she had probably been lucky : they had been only five or six and hadn't expected to find her at all which had given her a small advantage. Then, the rage of what they had just done had taken over and she had let it all out against them. She hadn't killed them all though, two had gone away and she did not doubt they had gone to warn the rest of their pack that she was still alive. Ever since that moment, she expected to see them appearing front between the trees at anytime, after all they hadn't put in so much effort to find and kill her father and brother just to let her go like that. She…_

_She suddenly stopped. She hadn't caught on time the movement between the bushes and her eyes sharpened when an horrible-looking orc stepped from behind a tree and smirked at her. _

_"__Are you finally ready to die?" he smirked. She could hear the others all around her, they had circled her. She risked a quick glance behind her shoulder and was surprised to see that despite what she had thought, there weren't more orcs than the last time._

_"__How many tries does it take to kill me?" she spat at the orc in front of her. _

_"__The third time is the one" _

_He cursed in black speech and all of them suddenly threw themselves at her._

* * *

><p><em>Luna pushed one of the bodies that was lying on top of her away and rolled on her side, moaning in pain. She slowly forced herself on her knees and looked around her. All the orcs laid dead.<em>

_"__Maybe…next time…" she muttered at the one who had talked at the beginning._

_She looked down at herself, she was in a very pitiful state and when she saw the blood covering her clothes, thought it better to not take a closer look at the wounds she had gotten. There was nothing she could do now…She stood up and almost fell when she put her weight on her right leg that had been severely injured. Biting her lips to avoid screaming, she picked up her sword. Snow was starting to fall._

_Keep walking, she had to keep walking._


	11. Thunder battle

**Chapter X : Thunder battle**

The weather that had been so beautiful so far had changed so suddenly none of the company had seen it coming. Dark clouds had replaced the clear blue sky and the rain had started pouring down on them as they had started what probably was the most dangerous part of their journey in the misty mountains. The company was walking in a close line along the narrow edge of a cliff on the side of a mountain, trying not to look at the sheer drop waiting for them in case of a misplaced step.

"Hold on!" Thorin roared at the head of the line, his voice barely covering the thundering sounds of the storm that had begun.

Luna looked up at him, she could barely distinguish his form in the storm. She was keeping a firm grip on the rocks of the mountain side next to her as she was advancing in case the narrow and unsteady path suddenly collapsed underneath her feet. She was walking behind Kili and in front of Fili.

She widened her eyes in horror when she saw Bilbo stumbling dangerously towards the edge of the cliff a bit further but thankfully, Dwalin next to him had the reflex to pull him back and save him from a terrible fall.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin's voice came once again.

They couldn't agree more.

"Look out!"

All looked up to see a massive boulder flying in the air towards them. The giant rock crashed on the mountain side above them and broke into a thousand little pieces that fell on them.

Luna grabbed Kili's shoulder in front of her to push him against the mountain slope and felt him pulling her towards him as the rocks fell around her. She then looked up and briefly met his eyes, they were filled with worry and although she was certain hers weren't any better, she gave him the smallest of nods.

"This is no thunderstorm" Balin suddenly exclaimed, "it's a thunder battle!"

As they all snapped their heads towards what he was looking at, their eyes widened in horror when they understood where the flying boulder had come from. A huge, massive, enormous stone giant was heading their way with another gigantic rock ready to be thrown in its hands.

"Bless me…" Bofur muttered. "Giants! Stone giants!"

They thought for a moment it was aiming at them until they saw a second gigantic monster arriving the other way and getting shot by the first one. They were caught in the middle of a fight between mountains and unfortunately, it wasn't over…

Luna gasped when the ground beneath their feet starting moving and the dwarves' shouts were lost in the wind when a third giant broke free from the mountain they had just been walking on. They had been standing on the giant's legs and apparently, it hadn't noticed but wanted to get in the fight as well.

Kili, Fili and Luna held onto each other as they were balanced according to the awaking giant's moves.

"Luna!" Kili exclaimed.

She looked down and gasped in horror when she saw that a large gap was starting to form on the path underneath her feet. The young dwarf prince reached for her hand but she was further away from him than from Fili who grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him before she could fall into the gap that was getting wider and wider as the legs of the giants were separating, splitting the group into two.

"Kili, grab my hand!" Fili cried out to his little brother but it was too late : they were too far apart already.

Fortunately for them, the leg on which the other half of the company was standing quickly got close enough to the mountain side to allow them all to jump in safety onto another pass.

Luna swallowed nervously, at least Thorin and Kili were safe…she and Fili clung to one another as they were being carried away on the giant's other leg with the rest of the group. The cries of the dwarves got mixed with the sounds of the rocks the giants were throwing crashing into each other.

The young girl risked a glance over her shoulder and a cry got stuck in her throat when she saw they were about to be crashed against the mountain side. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the worse. Her feet suddenly left the ground and she was thrown forward, hitting a rocky ground. She gasped in pain when she felt something else fall on top of her then, after the sound of a massive crash, silence came back and only the sounds of the storm were to be heard.

It's only when she heard the thing that had fallen on top of her moan in pain that she opened her eyes to meet Fili's.

"No!" she heard Thorin's voice before she saw him hurrying towards them with the rest of the group behind him. When he saw that they were alright, a relieved sight escaped his lips.

"It's alright! They're alive!" Balin shouted to the others.

"You're heavy" Luna muttered to Fili who hadn't recovered his spirits just yet.

"Sorry" he said, pushing himself off her.

Luna looked around her, they had been lucky enough to fall into a cornice on the mountain side and avoid being crashed against the rocks as their giant had fallen into the ravine.

"Fili! Luna!"

Kili pushed past his uncle and raced towards his brother and friend for who he had just feared the worst and fell on his knees before them, embracing them both.

"We're fine, a little giant ride won't harm us, Kee", Fili joked.

"Keeps us in shape" Luna added with a little wince of pain, rubbing her temple.

Kili was about to say something when Bofur's calls drew their attention.

"Where's Bilbo? Where's the hobbit?!" he shouted.

Luna jumped to her feet, her heart racing. Bilbo couldn't have fallen! And he hadn't, he was clinging on to the edge of the path, trying desperately to get a hold of something to pull himself up.

"Bilbo!" she cried out as she raced towards him, threw herself on the ground and grabbed his hands before he could fall. "Hold on!"

She had never seen the poor hobbit so frightened. He looked desperately at her, balancing above the emptiness of the massive gulf they were standing above.

"Don't look down!" she ordered. "Look at me, only at me!"

Despite the dwarves trying to help her, she didn't have enough strengths to pull him up.

"No! Thorin!" she cried out when she caught glimpse of the dwarf swinging himself down to push the hobbit up back on the pass.

As soon as Bilbo was safe, the stones Thorin was holding onto gave way and she caught his hands just on time, throwing herself towards him. He was too heavy for her though and she hadn't had time to assure her balance on the edge of the cliff and would have fallen with him if Dwalin hadn't thrown himself at her to grab her by the waist before she could slip down from the pass into the void.

The big warrior quickly pulled them both up to safety and sat Luna down with her back against the mountain slope, her heart racing in her chest.

"For a moment, I thought we'd lost our burglar" Dwalin sighted.

"He's been lost ever since he left home" Thorin shot his darkest glance at the poor hobbit who was still shaking from his terrifying experience. "He should never have come, he has not place amongst us!"

The young girl frowned at Thorin's harsh words and bit her lip to restrain herself from saying anything.

In an instant, Kili was by her side and helped her up on her feet as Thorin was leading them towards the safety of a cave he had just found.

Most of the dwarves and Bilbo let themselves fall to the ground in exhaustion, still shocked of what had just happened. Luna let herself slip into a sitting position against the rocky wall of the cave then briefly met Dwalin's eyes a bit further and they exchanged a little nod. Captain or not, they had both fulfilled their duties today, her by catching Thorin in his fall and him by helping her to save him.

"No, no fires, not in this place" Thorin growled at Oïn who was assembling some dry pieces of woods. "We leave at first light. Bofur, you take the first watch, the rest of you, get some sleep"

"We were supposed to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joins us, that was the plan" Balin called to him.

"Plans change"

Luna exchanged a worried look with Balin and stood up to walk towards them.

"Thorin, we need him in this quest, we can't leave without him" she carefully told him in a low voice.

"As much as I am grateful for what you did which only proves how worthy you are of the title of captain, your role doesn't include questioning the king, Luna" he eyed her warily.

She sharpened her eyes but he walked away before she could answer anything and Balin prudently put a hand on her arm as if to keep her from following him to confront him.

"Let him be, lass, you can't reason with him when he has decided to be stubborn" he whispered.

"We need Gandalf" she insisted in the same low voice.

"I know" the old counsellor sighted, "I know…"

He gave her a concerned look. Balin was the only one in the company who knew about Azog as well and he too was worried, not only for Thorin but for Luna as well if the Defiler found them too early.

She shook her head and walked away in her turn when she caught glimpse of Bilbo sitting alone in a corner and hesitated for a few seconds then went towards him.

"You gave us quite a fright, Bilbo" she softly said with a little smile.

He didn't answer, he looked miserable and despaired so she knelt in front of him and warmly squeezed his shoulder.

"Get some rest, tomorrow will be a better day" she whispered to him then left him to his thoughts.

Kili watched as the young girl made her way towards the spot where he and Fili had chosen to sleep. She took her blanket from her bag and lied down, turning her back on him. Frowning, he made a move to reach for her but Fili stopped him. He shot his big brother a questioning glance and for an answer, the blonde turned his eyes to where Thorin was.

"Let her sleep" he read on Fili's lips.

Although grieved, Kili nodded and just looked at the girl's back. For a second today, he had thought once again he was going to lose her. When he had seen her catching Thorin before he could fall and slipping from the edge of the pass before Dwalin caught her, his heart had felt like it suddenly exploded into a thousand pieces. For that very short instant, he had seen her fall and disappear into the emptiness of the ravine.

He bitterly realised that it was the third time in only a couple of months that he really feared for her life. The first time had been when they had found her after her escape from the orcs a few months ago. She had been so badly hurt that her chances of waking up at all at the time had been very low.  
>The second time had been after their long run in the plain when she had stayed back to save him and the third time had been today. He did not doubt that it would happen more and more often and couldn't bring himself to the idea that she was risking her life for them.<p>

He didn't want any harm to happen to her, he wanted to keep her close in his arms like in Rivendell when she had had a nightmare.

Fili's words from a night that seemed very long ago came back to him. _What do you think of Luna? She is quite beautiful, isn't she?_ By Mahal, yes she was beautiful and he didn't know if it was just his mind playing tricks on him but he found her more and more beautiful with each passing day. Whenever he met her eyes, he could feel himself interiorly melting, he got goosebumps and never found himself able to break free from them. He hadn't wanted to admit it until now but maybe, yes, maybe deep inside his heart, Luna wasn't only his little childhood friend anymore, she was the heir of the captains of Erebor whom he was slowly but surely starting to fall in love with.

* * *

><p><em>Keep…walking…she had to…keep walking.<br>Pain and cold, there was nothing but pain and cold as she was making her way in the snow. She had no idea how long it had been now since she had left her wrecked house behind, nor the exact state her body was in. She didn't dare to look anymore, she just had to keep walking and she would soon be there…one step…at a time…_

_She suddenly realised she had finally come out of the woods when there were no more trees standing in her way. She raised her head and narrowed her eyes when she saw the house a bit further in front of her. It may have been decades since the last time she had come here, but she could never forget this place. She took a step forward, it couldn't be true, she was hallucinating. Maybe she was dead in the forest and all this was just an illusion? She caught glimpse of a figure watching in her direction from a window then a second one appearing next to it.  
>As she took a second step forward, both of them hurriedly left the window. At the third step, her legs gave way underneath her and she fell in the snow. She had so little strengths left that she could do nothing to try and soften her fall. She vaguely heard a door banging open and footsteps coming her way. There were voices as well but she couldn't understand what they were saying until they were just above her.<em>

_"__Who's that?" _

_"__I have no idea, turn him over so we can see his face" _

_She felt strong hands turning her over and both voices suddenly fell silent._

_"__It can not be…"_

_"__Luna?!" _

_Her vision was blurred by the pain and she hadn't seen the owners of the two faces above her for almost seventy years yet she could never have not recognised the young dwarf that was holding her with his messy dark hair and brown eyes where an odd mix of fear, happiness and shock could be read right now. _

_She wished she had been able to say something but darkness suddenly enveloped her all at once and at that moment, she was certain that she was dead._

Luna opened her eyes. Gloïn's regular snores were echoing in the cave and turning on her side, she saw Kili asleep next to her, turned in her direction. The images of her dream came back to her mind as she watched his face. Now she finally remembered what happened between the moment she had left the ruins of her house behind to the moment she had woken up at her friends' place.

A little noise made her look around and she sat up when she saw Bilbo, all packed up and with his coat on, silently walking towards the entrance of the cave.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bofur called to him in a whisper before she could do it. The dwarf had been holding the watch in a corner and the hobbit had not seen him.

He looked very frustrated to have been discovered and turned to Bofur with a grave look on his face.

"Back to Rivendell"

Luna felt as if she had just been slapped. Now completely awake, she stood up and silently walked towards the two of them. Bilbo caught glimpse of her and sighted.

"You can't turn back now! You're part of the company!" Bofur exclaimed, as silently as he could to not wake the others up. "You're one of us!"

"But I'm not though am I?" he had a look of sadness on his face but seemed determined at the same time. "Thorin said I should never have come and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking…I should have never run out of my door"

"Bilbo…Thorin didn't mean it" Luna tried, not aware just like the two others that Thorin wasn't sleeping and was listening to their conversation.

"Of course, he meant it!" the hobbit exclaimed. "And he has a right to mean it…"

"It's because he doesn't know you yet, he hasn't been able to see yet what you're worth"

"Well I won't give him that disappointment then"

"No, Bilbo, please. He may not know it, but I do, I know you're worth much more than what even you would believe. Gandalf knows it too"

"Luna…", the hobbit sighted.

"You can't just go, you…your training is not over"

He raised an eyebrow at her but she found nothing else, she was out of arguments.

"You're homesick" Bofur suddenly said, "I understand"

"No, you don't! You don't understand! None of you do, you're dwarves! You're used to…to this life! To living on the road! Never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!"

Both Luna and Bofur had been about to say something but their words didn't leave their lips after hearing the hobbit's words. The young girl bit her lip, he was right, especially in her case…the only home she had ever known had been destroyed by orcs and she was now on a quest to reclaim one that she had no memory of.

"Look, I'm sorry, I…I didn't mean…" the hobbit started, realising what he had said.

"No, you're right" Bofur whispered. He looked behind him at the dwarves sleeping in the cave. "We don't belong anywhere"

He sighted and turned to Bilbo again.

"I wish you all the luck in the world" he gave the hobbit a sad smile and gently clapped his shoulder, "I really do"

Bilbo warmly squeezed the dwarf's arm then turned to Luna who was just standing there, watching him with sadness in her eyes.

"You'll keep watching over them, right? They need you in this" he told her.

She bit her lip to push back the tears that were pricking in her eyes and nodded.

"Always"

He gave her one last smile then turned his heels to leave the cave but at that moment, something shiny at his belt caught Bofur's attention.

"What's that?" he asked.

The hobbit turned and narrowed his eyes when he saw that a blue light was coming from his sheath. He slowly pulled the elvish blade out to take a look at it. It was gleaming blue which could only mean one thing…

"Wake up!" Luna shouted to everyone and Thorin jumped to his feet and echoed her shout. "All of you, wake up!"

The young girl raced to where she had left Fili and Kili and held her hand out in front of her in an attempt try to reach for them but it was too late ; the floor of the cave suddenly gave way beneath them and they all fell into darkness.


	12. Down in Goblin Town

**Chapter XI : Down in Goblin Town**

The company half fell, half slid down a long rocky uneven slope until they landed in a messy heap at the end of a path built within the mountain itself.

Luna fell on top of Ori and braced herself to be crushed by another dwarf but thankfully, she was the last one to fall. None of them moved for a little while, some were letting out moans of pain and all were trying to figure out what had just happened but they didn't get much time though : screeches and uncountable footsteps were quickly heard and snapping her head up, the young girl's eyes widened when she saw a big group of goblins coming at them.

They all jumped on their feet but the foul creatures were far too numerous and grabbed them all to push them down the path towards the heart of the mountain.

"Get your hands off me!" Luna exclaimed as two goblins were holding her arms behind her back to keep her from kicking at them or grabbing her weapons.

She wondered if her opponents had even heard her among the protestations and curses of the dwarves. She looked over her shoulder; Fili, Kili and Thorin had all been captured as well and were being pushed along with the others but what caught her eyes was the little form of Bilbo who seemed to go unnoticed. He was staring at her with wide eyes as if asking her what to do and she gave him the smallest of nods. The hobbit understood and silently went down on his knees in a little ball. The goblins walked past him without even seeing him and as soon as they were further away, he crawled behind a piece of wood and watched as the company was being lead away by the creatures.

When they were out of sight, he stood up and took his dagger out, ready to follow them when suddenly, a goblin that had stayed behind dived towards him. He tried to fight him for a few moments when his enemy brutally launched himself at him and he stumbled backward. Unfortunately, he had been standing too close to the edge of the cliff on which the company had landed and he let out a strangled cry when he and the goblin both fell down into the abyss.

* * *

><p>Goblins…everywhere she looked at, there were only goblins…around her, above her and underneath her on the uncountable wooden paths that ran everywhere in the mountain. <em>Disgusting, noisy creatures<em>, she thought as they were all singing a terrible song.  
>The company was pushed along many paths and bridges that, by a great miracle, didn't collapse when they walked on them and the dwarves couldn't help but look in awe at the immensity of Goblin Town and at the enormous amount of goblins that were surrounding them.<p>

Amongst all the voices singing, one was being heard on top of all the others and they didn't take long to understand they were being lead towards its owner who came into view after one last turn.  
>Luna's jaw dropped in shock when her eyes fell on the hugest, tallest and ugliest goblin she had ever seen. He was almost thrice her height and five times her corpulence, his huge belly was swinging to the rhythm of his grotesque dance and his double chin was so massive it fell down on his chest.<p>

"Down, down, down in Golbin Town!" he ended the song as they were taken to a halt on a platform in front of his throne made of bones.

It was the most terrible show they had ever seen. The huge goblin king sat back down on his throne and eyed them warily.

"Catchy, isn't it? It's one of my own composition" he said.

"That's not a song, that's an abomination!" Balin raised his voice and all the dwarves shouted their approval while Luna was trying to repress the look of disgust on her face.

"Abominations, mutations, deviations, that's all you're gonna find down here!" the king exclaimed before standing up again and leaning towards the group as the goblins that had captured them started throwing their swords into a pile on the ground. "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, your malevolence" a goblin answered.

"Dwarves?!"

"We found them on the front porch!"

"Well don't just stand them, search them! Every crack, every crevice!"

Luna growled as the goblins were starting to search for any weapons they could find on the dwarves and soon extended their search to their personal possessions. Oïn's ear trumpet was thrown to the ground and brutally crushed and it took four goblins to try and find every weapon Fili was carrying.

"No, leave that!" the young girl exclaimed when the creature that was searching her found the letter she always kept with her in a pocket inside her coat. The goblin took a look at the old parchment and threw it on the pile of the objects that had been taken from them. "Give that back!" she snarled at him and tried to push past him to reach for it but he brutally pushed her back and she stumbled backwards onto Kili who caught her and shot a dark glance at the goblin.

"Touch her again and you die" he threatened him in a voice that Luna had never heard before.

"What are you doing in these parts?" the king asked once the dwarves had been stolen of all their belongings. "Speak!"

Thorin made a move to step forward but Oïn stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder and stepped in front of the group.

"Don't worry lads, I'll handle this" he assured them.

"No tricks!" the goblin warned. "I want the truth!"

"You're going to have to speak up. Your boys flattened my trumpet" the dwarf said.

"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!" the goblin roared, getting up once again and pointing his stick towards them in a threatening way. From the look of fear on the other goblins around them, Luna could tell they'd better not play with his nerves too much.

"If it's more information you want then I'm the one you should speak to!" Bofur piped in, stepping forward in his turn.

The goblin king looked at him with a suspicious look yet they could tell he was curious. He probably didn't get to capture a whole company of dwarves everyday after all.

Bofur seemed to search his mind for something to tell him for a few seconds, he hadn't quite thought this through.

"We were on the road" he started, "well it's not so much a road as a path. Actually, it's not even that come to think of it…it's more like a track. Anyway, the point is, we were on this road, like a path, like a track…and then we weren't, which is a problem because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday"

"Visiting distant relations" Dori added behind him.

"A whole group of warriors like you travelling over here? There are safer ways to go and visit distant relations" the goblin spat.

Dori swallowed nervously and Bofur looked around him in the hope to find a clever idea when his eyes landed on Luna and Kili standing a few feet away from him.

"Actually, you're right, it's more than that. We are traveling to Dunland to introduce my young cousin over here to her fiancé's family" he pointed at the two young dwarves who both turned bright red in an instant but, after an insisting look from Bofur, reached for each other's hand and inched closer.

Luna felt like her face was on fire. She didn't know where the dwarf was going with this but it definitely wasn't a good idea…She gave a quick look to Kili, he was blushing too but kept his eyes determinately fixed on the goblin. As she was standing so close to him, she realised that she looked quite petite next to him…in the end, he had indeed grown up a lot. His grip on her hand was strong and gentle at the same time and she noticed how he was keeping her slightly behind him in a protective way that she couldn't help but find cute…she mentally slapped herself, what in Durin's name was she doing? They had just been captured by orcs, now wasn't the time to detail Kili's features.

Only Fili had to repress the amused smile from his face while all the others looked just as surprised as the two so-called fiancés before getting into the game as well. Dori determinately nodded and all the dwarves started confirming what Bofur had just said. Luna felt Gloïn slightly pushing her and Kili to the front so that the goblin king could see them better and she tried to look as innocent and fragile as she could, holding Kili's hand and giving the goblin a shy smile that she hoped looked convincing enough.

The king turned his suspicious eyes in their direction and leant towards them.

"It sure is a pretty thing you found for yourself" he smirked at Kili who shot him a dark glance. "Too bad you can't protect her!"

And with that, in a move so swift none of them saw it coming and that was quite remarkable seeing his enormous size, he grabbed the young girl, closing his fist around her waist and threw her towards two of his guards who caught her and forced her down to her knees, blocking her arms behind her back.

"Luna!"

"How dare you?!"

Kili had made a move to run towards her but the king had pointed the blade of his stick towards him and the dwarves behind him were ready to hold him back. All he could do was to shoot the goblin a murderous glance and try to contain his anger.

"You really think you can come into my mountain, take me for a fool and think that I would let you go like that?" the king barked at them.

He knelt in front of Luna and tipped her chin up to force her to look up at him. Forget the shy innocent girl, she had a deadly gleam in her eyes when she met his and he grinned.

"I have heard of the girl with the moon-shaped scar on her face" he softly said. "Words about your death spread even down here in Goblin Town, until a few days ago, when a rumour that you were alive came to my ears. Tell me now…"

He turned to the company again. The dwarves seemed about to throw themselves at him and rip him apart.

"What are you doing in these parts?" he repeated his question.

He may have looked almost grotesque at the beginning, but right now he was scary.

"Very well" he said when there came no answer, "if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk!"

All the goblins everywhere started cheering loudly and cursing the dwarves. Torture, that is what they liked.

"Bring out the wrangler! Bring out the bone breaker! Start with the girl!"

"No!"

"Luna!"

"Wait!" a loud voice turned everyone silent and Thorin made his way towards the goblin king who looked him up and down then narrowed his eyes.

Luna's face turned to concern when she saw her king stepping forward but he ignored her warning look.

"Well, well, well, look who it is! So that's why the girl captain is traveling in these mountains…"

He took a step back and mockingly bowed in front of the dwarf.

"Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, king under the mountain!" he exclaimed. "Oh, but I'm forgetting! You don't have a mountain!"

Thorin's face remained neutral but anyone would have felt their blood freeze under the stare he gave the goblin.

"You're not a king" the king added in a softer, condescending voice. "Which makes you…no one, really"

His lips curled up into an evil grin.

"I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just a head, nothing attached", he turned towards Luna again "He might even pay double if I send hers too. Perhaps you know of whom I speak…an old enemy of yours…a pale orc, astride a white warg"

Luna's face paled and she looked at Thorin, biting her lip. This goblin king had heard from Azog and wasn't in unfriendly terms with him, she did not doubt it anymore. By now, she was sure the orc had heard of her being alive and it could only be by him that the goblin had heard it. He had probably been told to look out for her and Thorin. This was really bad.

"Azog the Defiler…was destroyed" the dwarf's voice growled, filled with threats. "He was slain in battle long ago"

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?"

The goblin had a little laugh as he turned to a tiny little goblin scribe sitting on what looked like a strange little swing.

"Send word to the pale orc. Tell him I have found his prizes"

He turned towards them again as the little scribe went off and gave them his evilest look.

"Kill them all"

* * *

><p>Bilbo heard the snarl before he even opened his eyes. He dared flicker them open and at first, he saw nothing but darkness and it took a little moment before his eyes grew accustomed to the dark. The only light coming at the bottom of the ravine in which he had fallen was very far away above his head but little by little, he was able to see what surrounded him.<p>

The goblin that had attacked him was lying a few feet away, breathing with great difficulty. He wasn't dead yet, but the hobbit knew he wouldn't last long. Himself had been lucky enough to land on huge mushrooms that had cushioned his fall.

The snarl was heard again, closer and Bilbo tightened his grip on his dagger so hard that his knuckles whitened. He narrowed his eyes as a figure stepped out of the darkness and reached for the dying goblin.

"Yes! Yes!" the strange creature whispered. "Yes! Gollum! Gollum!"

The hobbit didn't even dare breathing although the creature was not exactly impressive-looking with its skeletal frame and the way it was all hunched up. Its huge eyes gleamed in the darkness as it stood over the goblin and started dragging him away. Its prey suddenly started kicking at it though and the hobbit watched in horror as it took a stone on the ground and brutally kicked the goblin's head with it over and over again until he was dead for good.

"Nasty goblinses!" Gollum hissed. "Better than old bones, Precious…better than nothing!"

Bilbo waited until he had vanished back into darkness the way he came before standing up and stepping out of his hiding spot.

He looked up the way he had come from, it was hopeless to try and get back up there. As he looked around him to try and find an idea -the only one that popped into his mind was to go and ask this Gollum for a way out, and it wasn't really pleasant-, his eyes caught a glimpse of something shiny on the ground. He bent down to pick it up. It was a ring, a simple golden ring that probably wasn't worth much, yet he didn't know why but when he heard the shouts of Gollum in the distance, he hurriedly hid it in his pocket.

Bilbo had no idea, but finding this little ring was only the beginning of yet another great quest that would start once again in Bag-End.

* * *

><p>The goblin king had resumed his terrible song while the dwarves were being pushed and shoved by the others.<p>

"Let me go!" Luna gritted between her teeth at the two guards who were still holding her down on her knees. All she got was a brutal kick on the head that made her see stars for a few seconds.

Suddenly, a goblin who had been looking at the dwarves' possessions on the ground screeched and tossed Thorin's sword that he had been inspecting on the ground. His king looked at it and let out a gasp of fear while precipitately stepping back towards his throne like a coward.

"I know that sword!" he exclaimed, pointing at it as the other goblins were hurriedly moving away from the blade. "It is the goblin cleaver! The biter! The blade that sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Beat them! Kill them, kill them all!"

It was almost unnecessary to say ; the goblins had seemed to grow mad at the sight of Thorin's sword and were throwing themselves at the dwarves, hitting them with whips, trying to knock them down to the ground, beating them in every way they could. Luna wasn't spared either : while the two others were still keeping a firm grip on her, a third goblin appeared in front of her with a whip in his hands.

"No!" she shouted and, anger boiling in her veins, she hit the knees of the goblins standing to her right so hard in one swift movement of her leg that she heard a disgusting crack before he fell to the ground with a cry of pain. She didn't give time to the second to try and stop her and managed to avoid the blow he had been ready to give her by rolling on her back. She took a little dagger that they hadn't found earlier out of her boot and threw it straight into his heart before he could reach her.

Suddenly, she caught glimpse of Thorin being pinned to the ground by his assaillants a bit further.

"Cut off his head!" the goblin king shouted as his minions were lowering a dagger towards his throat.

"No!" Luna cried out but before she had the time to make a move, the third goblin, the one who had come with a whip and that she had forgotten about took advantage of her moment of distraction and slashed at her, aiming for her face.

She just had the reflex to snap her head back and shouted in pain when the whip slashed at her neck and throat, tearing the flesh apart. Her vision blurred and she lost her balance from the violence of the shock. She fell to her knees, gasping in pain and vainly tried to kick at the goblin when he stepped towards her and grabbed her hair to pull her head backwards while he was rising his dagger, ready to take her head for good this time.

Kili's eyes passed from his uncle to Luna who were both about to be beheaded and there was nothing he could do. The goblins were blocking the way, he saw Thorin with a murderous gleam in his eyes as the dagger was coming down towards his throat, and Luna that the goblin was brutally holding by the hair down on her knees, ready to give her the final blow. He desperately cried out to them but his cry never got the chance to pass his lips : a bright light suddenly exploded in the middle of the fight, sending a wave of power that knocked everyone, dwarves and goblins alike, to the ground and the noises of the battle were all at once replaced by utter silence.


	13. Confrontations

**Chapter XII : Confrontations**

Luna was pined to the ground by the violence of the shockwave but at least, the goblin let go of his grip on her and was sent flying a few meters away. She then looked up at the cause of this magic and a smile of relief lit up her face when she saw a tall figure with a pointy hat standing in the middle of the platform.

"Take up arms…fight!" Gandalf shouted to the dwarves. "Fight!"

With their hope renewed by the wizard's arrival, the dwarves were on their feet in a second before the goblins had time to understand what had happened and grabbed their weapons from the pile where they had been tossed by the goblins.

Although Luna could feel blood dropping down from the wound left by the whip around her throat, the adrenaline pushed the pain away and she caught her twin blades that Dwalïn tossed her just in time to slay the creature that had whipped her before he could throw himself at her again.

The battle started once again but this time, the advantage seemed to be to the dwarves. The young girl made her way to Thorin, slicing any enemy that stood in her way. She saw Gandalf in the corner of her eye fiercely fighting the goblins that were racing towards him and couldn't repress a grin. There really were two Gandalf sharing the same body : the wise, old wizard smoking his pipe sitting among the flowers and the great fighter that one would better wish to have as a friend than as a foe.

"He wields the Foehammer! The Beater! Bright as daylight!" the goblin king screamed in fear, still lying on the ground where he had been knocked down by the wizard's magic.

Once Bombur was done throwing the weapons to everyone, he turned around and sent a goblin that had just thrown himself at him flying away with one big kick of his huge belly. Kili was already running towards an enemy before he was even tossed his sword and caught it just in time to embed it in his foe's heart that died with a curse on his lips.

"Thorin!" Nori suddenly shouted when he saw that the goblin king had stood up and was about to lower his blade on the dwarf.

Luna met her king's eyes and they exchanged a brief nod then raised their swords at the same time to block the goblin's bow and the shock sent him stumbling backwards, his weight making him lose his balance until he fell down from the platform.

"Follow me! Quick!" Gandalf shouted.

And he started running down a wooden path, the others on his heels and the goblins close behind them.

"Run!" Thorin roared.

Luna looked up, everywhere around them more goblins were coming from every direction and the dwarves literally had to slice their way through them.

"Disgusting creatures" she spat, pushing a body away from her blade with her foot. She shot a quick look behind her shoulder, to check on Fili and Kili. She put herself on the way of an enemy that was about to behead Fili and swiftly blocked the blow before kicking at the goblin to push him from the bridge they were standing on.

"Quick!" she urged the brothers, pushing them forward and they kept running.

Some goblins grabbed long ropes to jump from a platform where they were standing and try to land on them but at Thorin's orders, the ropes were quickly cut loose and the goblins were sent crashing into a collapsing bridge with strangled cries.

"Kili!" Luna shouted when she saw that he was looking at the scene and not paying attention to a goblin aiming an arrow at him. She managed to deviate the arrow with her blade, then a second one and would have been shot by the third one if the young prince had not decided to use a ladder he had just found as a shield and step in front of her.

The ladder blocked a few more arrows then with the help of other dwarves, they let it fall on the goblins running towards them and got their heads stuck in it. They started pushing the ladder forwards until a gap in the bridge in which the goblins fell. They then quickly put the ladder down to fill the gap and used it as a pass.

They joined the rest of the company and kept on running and fighting until they reached another, wider, gap on the wooden path.

Thorin cut the rope holding it and they found themselves swinging on the portion of bridge from one edge of the path to the other.

"Jump!" Thorin yelled and half of the company managed to jump and land on the opposite edge of the gap before the swinging bridge went off again.

This time, Luna was at the back with Fili and when the swing came close enough again to the edge they had cut it from, some goblins jumped on it as well and they tried to push them back.

"Get ready to jump" she told the blonde dwarf, avoiding a mortal blow as the swing was coming to the opposite edge again. Fili nodded but as they were about to go, he grabbed the young girl's arm to force her into following him instead of staying behind to cover them as she always did and they both jumped off just on time and were caught by Thorin who was waiting for them before starting to run again.

They took a couple of turns behind which they found more goblins every time. Seeing a dozen of them running towards them, Gandalf broke a massive boulder free from the mountain's rocky walls with his stick and pushed it in front of him to crush the enemies underneath it.

Luna was keeping an eye on the brothers and hoped that Dwalin or Gandalf was looking after Thorin. The three young dwarves never really left each other, it was in their habit to always follow one another and were more than used to fight side by side, that's why Luna ran straight into Kili's back who himself had run straight into his brother's when the company was suddenly taken to a halt on an unsteady-looking bridge. The goblin king appeared out of nowhere, breaking through the wood of the bridge and stood in front of Gandalf, giving him an evil grin.

"You thought you could escape me!" he exclaimed as the goblins were surrendering the bridge on both sides.

He laughed when he sent Gandalf stumbling backwards and the wizard was caught by the dwarves who pushed him back on his feet to face the goblin.

"What are you gonna do now, wizard?" the fat king asked.

Without a moment of hesitation, Gandalf sliced at his huge belly and Luna couldn't hide the expression of disgust on her face as he cried out in pain and fell to his knees.

"That'll do it" he said before collapsing with all his weight on the fragile bridge.

The girl suddenly felt the ground moving underneath her feet and the whole structure started to shake.

"Mahal, no…" she muttered, unconsciously grabbing Kili by the arm and looking down at the gulf under them.

The young dwarf pulled her against him and closed his arms around her just before the old structure gave out and plunged down into the abyss with the whole company still standing on it.

Luna closed her eyes without even realising it and clung onto Kili as hard as she could, scared that if she let him go, one of them would be sent flying away.  
>Fortunately, the bridge was long enough for its fall to be slowed down by both its sides scraping against the rock walls of the ravine that got closer and closer as they were nearing the bottom of it.<br>Finally, it crashed at the bottom with enough force to crush the dwarves between the big pieces of wood.

For a couple of seconds, nothing was heard but the groans and muttered curses of the dwarves. Luna found herself lying on top of Kili and couldn't help but think that this company really had an issue with unsteady grounds. It was the third time in twenty-four hours that they had found themselves with the ground opening or collapsing underneath their feet. She reopened her eyes and instantly lost herself in Kili's who were looking at her in concern, their faces inches apart. For a brief instant, everything around them seemed to disappear ; the collapsed bridge, the mountain, the company,…there were only the both of them, half-buried under the pieces of wood. None of them had loosened his grip on the other yet ; Kili still had his arms holding the young girl close to him and Luna was clenching onto his shirt, not willing to let go. Their faces were so close that the young girl could feel his breath on her skin and after a couple of seconds, Kili's eyes unconsciously landed on her lips for such a short instant she would later wonder for long if it had not just been her imagination.

Then, as suddenly as it had happened, the moment ended and they were brutally brought back to reality when the massive body of the goblin king landed on top of the bridge, just after Bofur had tried to cheer them up by an innocent "Well, that could have been worse"

Kili searched Luna's eyes again but she had broken the contact and was already trying to extirpate herself from the wreckage.

"You've got to be joking" Dwalin muttered next to them, trying as well to move away from the mess.

That's when the young dwarf saw the hundreds of goblins racing down the rock walls towards them.

"Gandalf!" he shouted.

They all looked up in horror and started moving faster to get back on their feet.

"We can't fight them! There's too many!" Dwalin exclaimed.

"Only one thing will save us now…daylight!" Gandalf nodded, hurrying the dwarves to leave the place.

Fili who had been lucky to not be crushed under too many pieces of the bridge raced towards the spot where Kili and Luna were still trying to extirpate themselves from the ruins.

"I am sorry to break your cozy reunion, but we need to move" he said with a little grin, pulling Luna free then helping his brother up.

"Fili, not the time" the young girl gritted between her teeth, pushing them both before her to get them as far away as here as possible and to hide her reddening cheeks.

They ran after the others along a tunnel at the end of which they could see daylight shining. Finally, they had found the way out and it was just on time, the goblins were not far behind! None of them doubted that at this very moment, Bilbo was watching them running past him, invisible thanks to a magic ring he had put on his finger to escape Gollum and find his way out of the mountain as well.

The company did not stop running once they came out of the mountain : they needed to put as much distance as possible between the goblins and them. Luna sighted in relief and took a deep breath of fresh air as soon as she stepped out of the tunnel into daylight and thought that despite the fact that she was a dwarf, she had never been so happy to leave a mountain.

They ran into a forest and waited until they had come far enough under the cover of the trees to stop running.

Gandalf looked around him and started counting the dwarves. "Bifur, Bofur, that's ten…Fili, Kili, Luna! That's thirteen…and Bombur, that makes fourteen" he muttered to himself.

The young girl wasn't disappointed to finally be able to stop. Her legs were shaking from the effort and the exhaustion, plus the wounds she had gotten -mostly the one left by the whip around her throat- had made her lose a lot of blood and she was starting to feel dizzy as the pain had come back. She went down on a knee to try and focus her vision and to avoid collapsing when a call from the wizard made her blood freeze in her veins.

"Where's Bilbo?" he asked. "Where is our hobbit?"

Only then did the dwarves notice that they hadn't seen him since they had first arrived in Golbin Town. While they were all looking around, hoping he was there somewhere, Luna bit her lip.

"Where is our hobbit?!" Gandalf exclaimed, anger in his voice.

"Curse the halfling!" Gloin roared. "Now he's lost!"

"I thought he was with Dori!"

"Don't blame me!"

"Where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked.

"The orcs hadn't seen him when we landed in their trap. I nodded to him and he managed to slip away" Luna piped in, getting up and trying to keep her balance.

She didn't want to believe that any harm had come to the hobbit. If that was the case, she would never forget herself. She had found a friend in him and in some way, felt responsible for him.

"What happened next? Tell me!" the wizard exclaimed.

"I'll tell you what happened!" Thorin spat. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door"

Luna knew she was in no position to confront her king but she couldn't stand him talking about the hobbit like that. She stepped forward and shot him a dark glance.

"You're wrong" she snapped at him. All the dwarves turned their eyes towards her at the same time and widened their eyes. Luna had never raised her voice against anyone before and especially not Thorin. Even him looked completely taken aback at first then stepped towards her in his turn and looked down on her from all his height.

Kili made a move to reach for the young girl and pull her backwards but Fili put a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from doing anything that would make their uncle even angrier.

Luna swallowed nervously but didn't unlock eyes with Thorin. He was impressive, he was her king but he was also insulting her friend and that was something she couldn't stand above all.

"Bilbo will never turn his back on us. He is brave and loyal although you refuse to see it" she said. "He's put up with everything you've snapped at him so far, never complaining and always following you on a quest he couldn't possibly care about from the start. He was more than helpful on many occasions…and now, while he might be in danger you are ready to leave him like that because you assumed that he went back home?"

It seemed that none of them even dared breathing at this point. The tension was palpable. From this perspective, Luna almost looked like a little girl standing in front of him, looking up to meet his eyes yet she didn't stop, now that she had started she would speak her mind.

"He is part of the company, Thorin, whether you want it or not. Everyone here sees him as one of us now…is this really how we treat our companions? By abandoning them? That is not how I have been raised, I'm sorry and if he is still in there then I'm going back to find him"

For a little moment, not a sound was heard, not even the birds sang, as if even them were waiting for Thorin's reaction. Kili thought that if he had been standing in Luna's place right now, he would have wished to vanish into the ground and would have probably at least backed away under his uncle's glare. The dwarf king seemed to make a huge effort to control himself and not yell at the girl and when his words finally came out of his mouth, they were full of threats and anger.

"You have no right to speak against me, has your father taught you nothing?" he muttered in an icy voice, "It seems that you still have a lot to learn before you can even pretend to his title so I suggest that you remain silent, girl. Do not make me regret my decision of agreeing to your presence in the company"

Although Luna tried to let nothing appear on her face, she clenched her fists to control her shaking and keep herself from hitting Thorin straight in the face.

"Do not…talk to me about my father" she muttered so low that only him heard her. He was about to answer when he saw the murderous gleam in her eyes and understood that he had hurt her. He just gave her one last sharp glance before turning back to Gandalf once again, breaking the tension.

"We will not be seeing our hobbit again" he declared. "He is long gone"

The dwarves looked at each other, saddened and uncomfortable about what had just happened. Most of the them were shooting bad glances at Thorin and amongst them all, he caught Dwalin's disapproval look.

"No he isn't"

They all startled and turned around to find the hobbit looking at them from a rock on which he was standing. Some of the dwarves' jaws dropped in surprise while others couldn't subdue the big relieved smiles from their faces.

"Bilbo Baggins!" Gandalf exclaimed. "I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"

The hobbit stepped down from his rock and walked towards them, clapping Balin's shoulder as he walked past him.

"Bilbo!" Kili sighted. "We'd given you up!"

"How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked.

"How indeed?" Dwalin repeated in a lower voice.

The hobbit's eyes flashed from Fili to Dwalin then to Luna who was watching at him with pride and some tears in her eyes. He hesitated for a few seconds then chuckled and discreetly stuffed the ring back in his pocket.

"Well does it matter? He's back!" Gandalf said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"It matters" Thorin insisted. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"

The dwarves' happy faces disappeared in a second at their king's question. Bilbo's eyes quickly met Luna's again and he gave her a little smile before turning towards Thorin. None of them knew but he had actually been hiding behind a tree during the argument between the two dwarves and Luna's words and attitude towards him had warmed up his heart and lit up his courage.

"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have" he started, "and you're right. I often think of Bag-End. I miss my books…and my armchair, and my garden…See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back…because you don't have one, a home. It was taken from you"

He paused for a few seconds. The dwarves were listening to him in a respectful silence and even Thorin's face had changed from angry to surprised.

"But I will help you take it back if I can" he ended.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Luna offering him the brightest smile he had ever seen and after a few seconds, even Thorin gave him a small nod of gratefulness. The dwarves just stood there for a moment, looking fondly at the hobbit who in this moment they really admired and Gandalf smiled to himself. He had definitely been well-inspired to bring him along on this journey.

Thorin made a move to turn to Luna with the feeling that he owed her at least a few words of apologies for his behaviour and his harsh words but a long howl suddenly broke the silence and they snapped their heads back to the mountain they had just come.

The smiles instantly faded…after the goblins, the orcs had found them once again.

"Out of the frying pan…" Thorin whispered.

"…and into the fire!" Gandalf finished his sentence. "Run!"


	14. The Defiler

_**And here it is already, the end of the first movie! Thank you again for your reviews and for those who followed/favourited, it means a lot to me :) Please keep reviewing, I love to read what you guys think of this story! I promise that very soon, the relationship between Kili and Luna will grow more and more ambiguous...in the meanwhile, **_**_enjoy this chapter!_**

**Chapter XIII : The Defiler**

All the tiredness and the pain left the dwarves again as they raced through the trees, the howls and barks of the wargs growing ever closer behind them.

The sun was already setting and all of a sudden, their flight was cut short by a cliff opening before them.

"Up into the trees!" Gandalf yelled, pointing at a couple of tall pines trees that stood on the very edge of the cliff, above the nothingness.

The dwarves didn't take the time to consider the option, there didn't seem to be any other at the moment anyway and they all started climbing up the branches.

Luna watched Fili expertly grab a low branch and pull himself up as if it was the easiest thing in the world then he held out his hand to his brother although it was almost unnecessary regarding that Kili was as agile as him when it came to climbing trees.

"Luna!" the young one held his hand out to her in his turn and pulled her up onto the branch.

The first wargs arrived at that moment and threw themselves at the trees, trying to bite the legs of the dwarves who hadn't climbed high enough, their jaws snapping just below them.

"We must go higher" Fili's voice came to the two youngest's ears and the firmly nodded : the teeth of the beasts were far too close to them.

They climbed up a few more branches and Luna looked around her. Night had fallen very quickly and the company was trapped in the trees with the wolves beneath them and nowhere to escape.

The orcs arrived at that moment, stopping a few meters away from the trees and a huge white warg made its way through the others to a large rock wide enough for it to stand on it. The young girl's eyes widened when she saw its rider and a shiver ran down her spine.

"Azog" a voice gasped.

She didn't need to turn around to know it was Thorin who was looking at the giant warg orc with an expression mixing shock and anger.

"Do you smell it?" the Defiler spoke in black speech. "The smell of fear. I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain"

The young girl swallowed. She had never seen him for real, he had always sent troops to kill her family and herself but had never come in person so she had only ever heard descriptions of him. When she was a child, even the stories she was told were enough to scare her but seeing in real life was a whole other experience…Everything about him was frightening and threatening, from his posture to the blade he had to replace the arm Thorin had taken from him at the battle of Moria.

She took her eyes off the orc to give a quick look across to Thorin who looked like he was seeing a ghost that he wished to send back to hell with a glance.

And it was only getting worse…three of the four trees on which the dwarves had climbed started cracking under the attacks of the beasts and before she even realised it, the tree she was in started to fall towards another one.

"Jump!" Kili cried out and they threw themselves on a branch of the second tree once they came close enough but of course, it wasn't going to stop there : already that tree was falling down as well and they more or less managed to jump from one tree to another until the last one that stood on the every edge of the cliff. The whole company found themselves in the same tree and under them, the wargs were pushing against the trunk to have it fall over the edge.

"Fili!"

They gazed up to Gandalf who had set fire to a pinecone with his magic and tossed it to the blonde dwarf. Understanding, he threw it at a warg trying to climb up their tree and the beast backed away, howling in fear at the sight of the fire.

With such a motivating result, the wizard started tossing more and more pinecones to everyone and soon, all the wolves had prudently stepped back, growling at the dwarves but not daring to come any closer to the flames.

The dwarves' cheers and relived smiles didn't last long though : they heard a terrible crack underneath their feet and the tree started collapsing towards the edge of the cliff.

"Hold on!" someone shouted but the frightened dwarves were already strongly holding onto the branches or the trunk. Luna gasped when she saw that they were about to plunge down into the nothingness but the roots of the tree proved strong enough to maintain it in an horizontal position above the cliff.  
>The young girl looked around her with horrified eyes. Some, like Thorin, had been lucky enough to be on the right side of the trunk, the one that was now facing towards the sky and thus found themselves laying on it but others were less fortunate, including Dori and Ori who were desperately holding onto Gandalf's staff, dangerously swinging above the nothingness.<br>She herself had been quite lucky : her upper body was resting on a branch, her legs balancing above the void, at least offering her a steady hold on the tree.

Azog was smirking at the dwarves, knowing that they didn't stand a chance and it would be his greatest delight to see them perish there.

Thorin looked up towards him and locked eyes with him. The glance they were exchanging was one of pure hatred. The dwarf barely looked at his men holding on for their lives, right now, nothing else mattered than his old enemy sitting on his warg a few meters away from him, his old enemy who he had thought dead for so many years…

Grabbing his sword as well as a piece of broken branch to use as a shield, he stood up and stepped off the trunk on the cliff again, walking towards the Defiler.

Balin's face paled, Gandalf's turned into an horrified expression but it seemed that none of them were able to go after him as he was racing towards the white orc.

"No! Thorin!" Luna shouted.

If he heard her, he didn't pay attention. She tried to haul herself onto the trunk to follow him when Kili grabbed her arm.

"No, Luna!"

"Let me go!" she snapped, trying to free her arm from his grip.

"It's too dangerous"

"It's my job! He is your uncle!"

Kili's eyes seemed desperate when he met hers.

"I can't lose you again…" he whispered.

That made her pause for a second. She looked into his eyes and got lost in them again for a few seconds. It was a bit like after their fall down the ravine on the bridge in Goblin Town ; an oddly pleasant connection settled between them until it was broken by Balin who let out a desperate cry when Thorin was hit by Azog's weapon and violently sent to the ground.

"No!"

Luna mentally slapped herself and broke the contact with Kili.

"You won't" she simply answered before pulling herself up on her feet.

"Luna!" the young dwarf called but it was too late ; already, she had seized her twin blades and was racing after Thorin.

Kili met his brother's worried glance and the blonde tried to give him a reassuring nod. In all his life, Fili had never seen so much fear in his brother's eyes and he knew that this fear wasn't for himself but was directed to the young girl.

The huge white warg had seized Thorin between his jaws and was about to kill him when Luna arrived and with a shout of rage, slashed with her blades at the wolf's head, causing it to drop the dwarf and howl in pain. Thorin landed a bit further on his back, not able to move anymore and watched as Azog was turning his glance towards the young girl.

Luna swallowed nervously but shot the pale orc a determined look and tightened her grip on her blades. Azog's lips stretched into a terrible smile.

"Ah, finally we meet" he said in the common speech, his words full of icy threats. "The girl with the moon-shaped scar"

"My name is Luna" she spat.

"Then I shall carve it on your tomb"

He kicked the sides of his warg with his heels and the beast leaped towards the young girl who just had enough time to plunge to the ground. She raised her blades as the beast jumped above her and cut its belly open. The white wolf collapsed to the ground with one last agonising howl and Azog slowly stood up, rage flowing through his blood.

He briefly turned his eyes towards another orc who was sitting on his warg a bit further.

"Bring me the dwarf's head" he ordered in black speech, pointing at Thorin who was still lying on the ground. "I have another matter to deal with here"

He turned to Luna again and the young girl's eyes flashed to the second orc who had dismounted and was walking towards Thorin.

She made a move to go and stop him but in a fraction of second, Azog was standing in front of her and raised his arm blade to kill her. She blocked his blow but the violence of it still sent her a few feet backwards.

She couldn't let Thorin be killed, she tried once again to pass Azog but he stopped her, it almost looked like a game to him. Understanding she wouldn't be able to walk past him to go and save Thorin, she threw herself towards him, and aimed at his chest but he blocked her. She spun around to free her weapon from his and tried to attack again but he avoided her blow and sent his massue swinging in her direction. She ducked to avoid being beheaded and felt the massive weapon passing inches from her head, cutting off a lock of hair.

She quickly gave a look across at Thorin and gasped when she saw that the orc was standing above him, his sword raised above his head, ready to kill.

"No!" she shouted but her cry was cut short when Azog, taking advantage of her little moment of distraction, grabbed her by the throat with his valid arm and lifted her up.

"It that really it? It that all the captain of Erebor can do?" he smirked.

He suddenly snapped his head around when they heard a strangled cry and found that the orc who had been about to take Thorin's head had just been attacked and killed by Bilbo.  
>The hobbit stood in front of the dwarf who, after one last gasp of pain, fell unconscious and although he was scared, he shot Azog his darkest glance, strongly holding his elvish dagger.<p>

"Release her" he said in a shaking voice.

If Luna had not barely been able to breath because of the pale orc's tight grip around her throat, she would have yelled at the hobbit to run away but at the same time, she felt proudest than ever of him.

Azog gave him a sharp look then threw his head back and laughed. The young girl felt a shiver ran through her spine, his laugh was the most terrifying sound she had ever heard. She groaned when he shook her but took advantage of the fact that for the first time, his attention wasn't directed at her to grab a little knife she always kept attached to her tight and violently stabbed him in the hand.

His laugh suddenly turned into a cry of pain and he dropped her. Luna collapsed to the ground and before she had time to move away, he kicked her so violently that she heard her ribs crack and was sent into the air to brutally land a few feet away, coughing blood.

"Is that all?" Azog asked as she was raising herself on her elbows, wincing at the sharp pain in her thorax. "It this all that is left of the Royal Guard of Erebor? A little girl for a captain and a hobbit guard?"

Luna quickly gave a look at Bilbo, did Azog really think he was a guard?

"You are alone, girl" he added.

Two massive legs suddenly appeared in front of Luna who was still half-lying on the ground and their owner stood in front of her, facing the pale orc. Looking up, she found Dwalin, his axe in hand.

"No she's not" the dwarf growled.

At that moment, the dwarves who hadn't been in a too bad situation on the tree and had managed to climb back up arrived and raced past him and Luna to attack the orcs and wargs and the battle started.

Dwalin turned around and kneeled down next to the young girl.

"Are ye alright?" he asked.

She nodded, still stunned by his actions and accepted the hand he offered her to pull her up on her feet.

"Look out!" she cried out when a warg raced towards them behind Dwalin's back and she pushed the dwarf to the side and welcomed the wolf with her twin blades that she fiercely embedded into its skull.

Dwalin gave her a small nod then they joined in the fight.

They didn't stand many chances, only a couple of dwarves against the pack of orcs and their montures but a fire was burning in their veins and they wouldn't let their king at the mercy of their ennemies.

Fili and Kili were fighting back to back as they often did, cutting down any enemy that dared come too close to them and Luna soon joined them to form their usual trio.

On the other side, Bilbo was still standing in front of Thorin, ready to protect the dwarf against any foe and he swallowed nervously when Azog turned his glance towards him. The girl was now fighting with the others, Oakenshield was at his mercy and he doubted that a poor hobbit would stop him from putting an end to the line of Durin. Once he would be done with that pretended dwarf king, he would take the captain's life as well and those who would still be alive by then would die knowing that their quest was going to be a failure from the start.

He grinned in an evil way as he neared the hobbit whose face was starting to decompose then suddenly, the hobbit's eyes caught something behind the orc and his jaw dropped in surprise.

Azog turned to see what had surprised him and quickly had to step aside when a gigantic eagle swooped towards them. Bilbo ducked and the eagle grabbed Thorin's limp body in its claw then flew away. The Defiler narrowed his eyes when he looked around to see more eagles arriving from every direction and killing the orcs and their rides. Like Thorin, the dwarves were being picked up one by one and soon, all those who had still been hanging to the collapsed tree were being carried away by the giant birds.

Bilbo was soon picked up as well, leaving the pale orc alone on the spot where he had been about to finally take Thorin Oakenshield's head moments ago. He roared in pain then his eyes caught sight of the three youngest dwarves who hadn't been carried away by eagles yet and were still standing there, a few meters away.  
>Maybe Thorin had escaped him this time but he wouldn't let Laïn's daughter run away as well. Raising his massue, he roared and sprinted towards her while she was looking at the eagles in awe, not paying attention to the fight anymore.<p>

Fortunately, Fili noticed Azog running towards them.

"Luna!" he yelled. He and Kili both made a move to reach for the girl and push her out of the way when suddenly, they were picked up by an eagle that they hadn't seen coming.

"No!" Kili shouted as he and his brother were being carried away.

Luna snapped her head around, not understanding what had just happened. One second, Fili was yelling her name, the next one the brothers were flying away with one of the giant rapaces. Before her mind had the time to register that, a violent kick suddenly sent her to the ground, and she cried out in pain when she brutally landed on her already broken ribs.

She opened her eyes just on time to see Azog grab her by the throat once again and lift her up. She had the reflex to reach for the little dagger attached to her tight that she had used to stab his hand the first time but realised in horror that it wasn't there anymore.

"Before I kill you, I am curious...how did you survive?" the pale orc muttered beneath his breath.

Even if she had wanted to answer, she couldn't have. His grip on her was so strong she was barely able to draw breaths. The wound on her throat that she had gotten from the whip in Goblin Town had reopened and she feared for a moment that he might tear her head off her shoulders.

Azog sharpened his eyes then all of a sudden, a strong gust of wind had him stumble backwards and despite her vision that was starting to be blurred by dark spots, the young girl distinguished the shape of another eagle swooping towards them and felt more than she saw its claws closing around her body.

"No!" the orc yelled but he was forced to let go of the girl : the rapace was too powerful even for him and he might lose his arm if he tried to hold on to her.

He watched as she escaped him and his roar of anger was echoed in the mountains as the eagles were now all flying away towards the rising sun.

Luna flew for a few seconds into the air until suddenly, the eagle that was carrying her opened its claw. She screamed without realising it when she fell into the nothingness until she was suddenly caught by someone and only then realised that the eagle had just dropped her onto the back of another rapace which was precisely the one that had picked Fili and Kili up.

She met the brothers' worried glances above her and gave them the most reassuring nod she could although she wasn't able to hide her wince of pain. She raised herself into a sitting position to free Kili's arms who were holding her but the young dwarf kept a firm grip on her and to tell the truth, she wasn't too unhappy about that...

A bit further, Thorin was still unconscious in the claw of the eagle carrying him and she prayed that he was alright when Fili yelled his name and he didn't wake up.

Most of the dwarves weren't conformable at all high up in the sky, and she no less than the others. She could tell that Kili behind her wasn't entirely reassured either from the way he was keeping his arms tightly wrapped around her waist. What she did not know is that the dwarf had feared once again he might lose her and wasn't willing to let go of her now. Feeling her against him, her tiny frame between his arms at least gave him the comfort that she was more or less alright and had survived once more. He took her hand in his when she warmly squeezed it and they watched the sun rise from the eagle's back.

* * *

><p>The giant birds carried them to the top of a tall bear-shaped rock that marked the end of the Misty Mountains that they had finally passed.<br>As soon as Gandalf was on his feet, he raced towards Thorin who had been laid down on his back and kneeled above him, whispering some incantations. The dwarves who had now all landed on the rock watched in a tensed silence until at last, their king gasped and opened his eyes.  
>Sights of reliefs were heard coming from everyone and Luna slightly pushed the young brothers forward to go and help their uncle up on his feet.<p>

"The Halfling…Luna…" Thorin muttered.

"It's alright" Gandalf sighted. "They are here, and quite safe"

Kili and Dwalin helped him to his feet and he turned to Bilbo

"You!" he snapped at him. "What were you doing?! You nearly got yourself killed!"

Silence fell on the company as the watched the scene with incredulous faces. Luna narrowed her eyes.

"Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild?" Thorin went on, walking towards the hobbit whose face decomposed. "That you had no place amongst us?!"

Bilbo looked down to his feet. Luna took a step forward, ready to intervene when Thorin suddenly pulled the hobbit towards him in a tight embrace.

"I have never been so wrong in all my life" he ended and the dwarves cheered.

The young girl smiled while Bilbo was awkwardly answering Thorin's embrace then he let go a few seconds later and fondly looked at the hobbit.

"I'm sorry I doubted you"

"No, I…I would have doubted me too" Bilbo answered. "I'm not a hero…or a warrior. Not even a burglar" he added, turning his eyes to Gandalf who chuckled.

Thorin then turned towards Luna and he frowned when she humbly lowered her head.

He walked towards her and tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. She tried her best to keep a neutral expression and hide the pain from her face.

"Luna…please forgive me for how I acted and talked to you when we came out of Goblin Town. I…" He sighted. "You are a greater captain than you think, a greater captain that I could have wished for. I know you didn't want to call yourself so until then but from now on, to me you are the rightful captain of the Royal Guard of Erebor"

The dwarves cheered again around them and she respectfully bowed her head.

"_My sword and life are yours until death takes me_," she spoke in Khûzdul. Thorin smiled and the dwarves around them respectfully bowed. The words she had just said were those of the vow the captains took when officially given the title.

Gandalf nodded in approval and when Dwalin met Luna's eyes, he gave her a little smile then slightly bowed his head and she returned his smile.

Thorin's eyes caught a glimpse of something behind Luna's shoulder and his eyes widened as he walked past her towards the edge of the rock.

The others noticed it as well and followed him.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked, seeing what had caught the dwarves' attention : the shape of a single solitary peek standing in the distance.

"Erebor, the lonely mountain" Gandalf nodded. "The last great dwarf kingdom of Middle Earth"

"Our home" Thorin whispered.

Even Luna, with all her doubts about the fact that Erebor could really once be a place she would call home, felt tears welling up in her eyes at the sight of the mountain and proudly looked at its distant form.

"A raven!" Oïn exclaimed, pointing at a bird flying above them. "The birds are returning to the mountain!"

"That, my dear Oïn, is a thrush" Gandalf corrected.

"We will take it as a sign" Thorin said. "A good omen"

"You're right" Bilbo nodded next to him. "I do believe the worst is behind us"

Luna let out a quiet, ironic exclamation at that. She was the only one among them whose eyes quickly left the mountain to trail on the distance separating them from it and she had the feeling that it wasn't going to be that easy...


	15. Healing and feelings

**Chapter XIV : Healing and feelings****  
><strong>  
>The company spent the biggest part of the day climbing down the tall rock the eagles had taken them to. There were narrow stairs running down one side of it and they all followed in line. Their progress was slow due to the riskiness of the task and the fact that most of them had been wounded -either in Golbin Town, facing the orcs or both- and were really starting to feel the pain coming back in their bodies. On top of that, they hadn't really rested since that night in the cave just before being captured by the goblins and they all felt exhausted.<p>

When they finally arrived on ground level, the descent had left them all sore and in desperate need for a halt but Gandalf insisted that they moved on to find a safe place to make camp. Although the eagles had put a respectable distance between them and the orcs, it was still better to take precautions : mounted on their wargs, their ennemies could show themselves very quick to catch up and their flight had probably driven Azog mad with anger ; he would try and stop them again as soon as he could.

They followed the wizard for another hour or two and when he finally stopped in a little clearing, the sun was already setting.  
>Moans of pain and grunts were heard from everywhere when the dwarves were finally able to stop and most of them dropped to the ground in exhaustion. The only strengths they had left would be used to healed themselves then eat.<p>

While Bofur was helping Bombur start a fire to cook the dinner, Oïn prepared his medical equipment and called for all those who had injuries to look after to come to him.

The dwarves went one by one : all of them had at least gotten cuts and bruises.

Luna had let herself drop to the ground as soon as they had stopped walking. Laying on her back next to a big rock, she closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to relax her tensed body and steady her breathing. She barely noticed when Fili and Kili sat on both sides of her.

"Are you alright?" the blonde asked in a little voice that couldn't conceal his own exhaustion. She simply nodded and considered sitting up as well but screw it, she was too tired to move right now. Flickering her eyes open, she saw that the two brothers were just sitting there, watching the others go to Oïn one by one, too tired to even try to talk or tease each other.

She let her eyes trail on the company for a moment. She could see many bad cuts and bruises on the dwarves that the healer was taking care of and noticed how he took a longer time with Thorin who had suffered quite a lot from his fight against Azog.

When it was Ori's turn to go to Oïn, she repressed a smile when he shot a quick, embarrassed glance in her direction and closed her eyes again, understanding he was shy to take his shirt off in front of a girl.

"Aren't you two injured?" she asked the brothers after a little moment.

Fili slowly nodded. They had been lucky enough to be spared injuries such as their uncle's or Luna's but had still gotten a few bad hits especially from the goblins and although they hadn't had time to take a look, they were convinced their bodies weren't in such a great state.

"You should go" Kili said, his eyes flashing to the wound on her throat and her blood-soaked clothes.

"Go first and tell Oïn that I think I have a few cracked ribs"

A flash of worry passed in the young dwarf's eyes while his brother got up.

"We'll be back" Fili said and then walked towards the healer, pulling Kili along.

Luna rolled onto her side to watch them walk away.

"She is in a worst state than all of us, she should go before us" Kili argued to his brother.

"Oïn will look after her as soon as he is done with the rest of us. I doubt she will agree to take her shirt off in front of the whole company, right?" Fili said, rolling his eyes.

His brother's face turned bright red and he looked down at his feet to hide his blush but Fili could not help shooting him a wide grin.

"Although you wouldn't mind too much, would you brother?" he teased him in a low voice so that only him could here.

For all answer, Kili elbowed him in the stomach.

"What did you lads get?" Oïn asked when they sat down on the grass in front of him.

"I'm not entirely sure, definitely some cuts and bruises. Nothing broken I reckon" Fili answered.

"Same here…plus I think an arrow flew a bit too close to me in Golbin Town, it might have scratched my side" Kili added.

"Alright, let's have a look. Shirts off"

* * *

><p>Even from where she was laying on the ground, Luna could see that the brothers had gotten quite a few kicks. Fili had a large purple bruise on his back on which Oïn put an ointment, as well as a sore muscle in his shoulder that the healer massaged for a good fifteen minutes. Kili on the other side had indeed been scratched by an arrow on his side that had left a trail of blood running down towards his hip and that Oïn cleaned, and bandaged.<p>

The young girl could almost hear her father questioning her on how she could have kept the princes from getting those injuries and she let out a little sight. At least they were alive, both of them, and Thorin too.  
>Without realising it, she let her glance trail on Kili's bare torso and before she knew it, found herself detailing his features. The only thing he now had in common with the little dwarf she had befriended decades ago were his messy hair and warm brown eyes ; for the rest, the little boy had grown, and quite well…<p>

Under his warm golden skin, his muscles were tensed from their adventures of the past few days and damn it, he was quite muscular in the end…maybe not as much as Fili but still, she hadn't realised that he was so strong.

"Enjoying the scenery?" came a little voice behind her, brutally taking her out of her contemplation.

She startled and snapped her head back to see Bofur watching her with an enigmatic smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she mumbled, turning on her back again as if nothing had happened.

"I am almost tempted to ask you which one of the two you were admiring…but that would just be for the sake of teasing you, I know very well which brother caught your eye, lass"

"I wasn't admiring anyone"

"Kili has grown up a lot, hasn't he?"

"Leave me alone"

Bofur chuckled but didn't say anything more as she closed her eyes, hoping she wasn't blushing too much. What on earth was she doing? It was the second time in a very short time that she found herself detailing the young dwarf in such a way. Alright, he was beautiful, strong and whatsoever but he was her friend and most of all, a heir of Durin that she was in charge to protect. She couldn't let her mind slip away from her mission, by no means should her focus deviate from the quest.

No, this was all due to her tiredness. Plus she had lost quite a lot of blood too, she hadn't told the others but her head was **spinning**, that's partly why she stayed laying on the ground and probably why she was starting to imagine things with Kili, her mind was playing tricks on her. She did not like him, not in that way, no matter what the others sometimes jokingly said.

_But if she did…_

Even if she did, that didn't mean at all that he was having the same thoughts. How could a young handsome prince like him ever set his eyes on her and see someone else than his childhood friend or his captain? It was impossible that the dwarf ever grew feelings for her.

_But if he did…_

And in the highly unlikely case where they would both find in each other something more than friendship, in the case where they might even end up loving each other -she barely dared to even think about that word-, nothing would ever happen. He was a prince of Erebor, she was the captain sworn to protect him and his family until her death. Not exactly the kind of relationships that starts on good bases…Plus, he was from royalty and only a noble lady from a highly respectable family, if possible a princess, could ever match with him, not a young captain girl, last member of a devastated line like her and she was sure that Thorin would personally take care of this.

She let out a deep sight and winced at the pain it caused in her ribs. Even with her eyes closed, her head was spinning. She could feel her strengths leaving her little by little and slowly let darkness creep over her.

* * *

><p>"Luna!"<p>

"Wake up, Luna!"

The young girl heard the voices calling after her as if from a distance. Her throat was on fire and terrible flashes of pain irradiated from her thorax to her whole body.

"What's happening to her?"

"Her state is worse than I had thought, I should have started with her"

Feeling a hand on her forehead, she forced her eyes open and the worried faces of the company appeared above her. Oïn was kneeling besides her, checking her pulse, Kili was on the other side, Fili standing next to him.

"Luna!" the young brother exclaimed, relief briefly replacing the concern in his eyes.

"Can you stand, lass? We'll go a bit further" Oïn said.

She nodded and with their help, forced herself into a sitting position but as soon as she moved, the pain flashing from her ribs almost had her cry out and her vision blurred for a few seconds. She would have fallen if Kili had not been holding her.

The dwarves exchanged a worried look.

"Luna…"

"I'll take her" Kili suddenly said.

Oïn nodded and he put one arm around her waist and the other under her knees then carefully lifted her from the ground, trying not to shake her too much and followed the healer to a place where the young girl could be healed in intimacy.

The young dwarf carefully laid her down on the ground again and Oïn knelt besides her.

"Stay" he said as Kili made a move to leave them and go back to the camp. "I might need some help"

He nodded and stayed there, Luna's head on his lap.

"I need to take a look at your ribs, lass" Oïn apologetically said.

She nodded but before he would pull her shirt off, she looked up at Kili and shot him a warning look.

"If you dare look at anything…" she muttered in a voice that despite the pain was still threatening.

"Not much to look at anyway" he chuckled and knew that he would regret his words as soon as she would be in a good enough shape to beat him up for them.

She shot him a murderous glance and he averted his eyes while Oïn lifted her shirt.

"Turn around, lass, I think it's more in your back that they are cracked"

She carefully turned to lay on her stomach with Kili's help and winced in pain but at least, now both her chest and bright red cheeks were hidden from his view.

The young dwarf was madly blushing as well. He may have closed his eyes to not see her but had had to turn her around all the same and a shrill had ran up his spine as his hands touched the bare skin of her waist. At that moment, he furiously wanted to be alone with her, just the two of them…not to do anything of course, just to be with her alone for once, away from the others and away from the quest.

He mentally slapped and thankfully, came back to a bit more senses when his eyes landed on her back. He bit his lip and cursed the goblins and the orcs under his breath at the sight of her bruised skin. There barely was a patch of skin that wasn't either blue, purple or red with blood. A few very spot had appeared where her ribs were cracked underneath the skin and Oïn's frown did nothing to ease his worry.

"How do I look?" came her muffled voice.

"Like a bad painting"

Kili wished her face wasn't turned away from him and hidden by her hair to see the half irritated/half surprised look she probably had right now and that he had found himself to love.

"Don't worry, it looks worse than it actually is" Oïn reassured her.

"Mahal, Oïn, that's the most displaced thing you could possibly say about a girl!" the young dwarf exclaimed.

Clearly, he was taking advantage of the fact that for once, Luna was in no position to make him regret his words. He doubted that in her state and with no shirt on she would stand up and beat him up. Plus, he wanted to make her laugh at least a little bit, it had been a long time since he had heard her laughing.

"From all the dwarves in this company, why do I have to be stuck with the most immature?" the young girl sighted in despair.

"Will you two keep quiet for a moment? I can't properly heal you if you keep talking or moving"

Luna buried her face in her hands while Kili's lips were stretching in a sheepish smile.

The healer rubbed an ointment on some of the bruises and cuts on her back then, with the young dwarf's help, put a bandage around the girl's torso. She let out a little moan of pain as he tightened it around her as much as he could without causing any more damage.

"Sorry lass, but your ribs have to stay as still as possible for a couple of days, they will only stay in place with this…"

She vaguely waved him off to signal him it was alright but kept her face hidden with her hair.

"Alright, that should do it. Can you sit now?"

Kili averted his eyes as she slowly turned around and raised herself into a sitting position, realising that the bandage was indeed keeping her ribs from moving too much and that she barely felt the pain from them anymore.

Fortunately, her bandage was covering her chest but she still took her shirt and kept it against her torso when Kili turned his eyes towards her again.

While Oïn was taking care of the wound on her throat, she realised that the shirt she was holding against her was torn and covered with dry blood, she wasn't going to put it back on. She flashed her eyes to the young dwarf who wasn't doing anything anymore and didn't seem to be needed right now and sent him to fetch her spare shirt from her bag that she had left behind at the camp.

As soon as he came back to the rest of the group, all eyes fell on Kili and a few dwarves stepped towards him, giving him questioning and worried glances.

"How's the lass?" Bofur asked.

"Is it grave?" Ori piped in.

The young prince even saw worry in his uncle's eyes and realised how much everyone loved her in the company. Bilbo and Gandalf had turned towards him as well and were waiting for an answer.

"She is fine" he sighted. "Just a few broken hits and bad hits plus her throat…nothing that will take the recklessness out of her I fear"

Sights of relief were heard amongst the dwarves and smiles reappeared on their faces.

Kili went to where the young girl had left her bag and looked inside to find the spare shirt. He deliberately ignored his brother's wide grin that had popped up on his face as soon as he had heard that the young girl would be alright and quickly walked away from the company again.

When he arrived back to where Luna and Oïn were, the healer had finished with the girl and was packing his stuff. There was a bandage around the girl's throat.

"Try to manage yourself for a few days…and for now, eat and then sleep. You've lost quite a lot of blood, you need to recover your strengths" he was instructing her.

"I'll be fine. Thanks Oïn"

The old dwarf mumbled something inaudible then left them and Luna and Kili found themselves alone.

He tossed her the shirt and she quickly put it on.

"What are you looking at?"

The young prince sighted and knelt down in front of her who was still sitting on the ground, her back against a tree.

"Congratulations on you officially becoming the captain" he said.

She looked surprised then waved the compliment off.

"I guess now it will be even harder for me to try and keep you from getting hurt in our place" he sighted, a frown on his face.

She raised an eyebrow at his sudden change of attitude, going from teasing to serious.

"Kili, it's…"

"It's your job, I know. And you are doing it brilliantly" he gave her a little smile that she returned.

Their eyes met and before they knew it, they were caught in one of those moments again, when the world around them suddenly faded away and that all that existed was them.  
>Kili found himself unable to leave her big hypnotising eyes in which he could see the most beautiful night sky that he would ever look at, her dark blue pupils seemed to shine with the light of a thousand stars. On the other side, the girl was lost in his glance in which she could see both of them as children, playing around and teasing each other and that seemed to her to be a gulf full of all the happy memories she had.<p>

Then, Luna's thoughts from earlier before she blacked out came back to her and she slowly bit her lip. She couldn't pretend that she didn't feel anything for him anymore but she couldn't allow herself to think that he would return those feelings or even worse, she couldn't allow herself to think that a relationship based on something more than friendship would ever be possible between them.

To her and Kili's greatest regret, she broke the contact, so suddenly that he slightly startled.

"We should head back to the camp" she said, avoiding his glance.

He looked for her eyes in vain then sighted and suddenly remembered something.

"Wait, I've got something for you" he exclaimed, looking for something in the inner pocket of his coat.

She gave him a questioning glance and he suddenly took out an old and damaged piece of parchment and handed it to her.

"I had not idea you still had this" he grinned.

She widened her eyes and took the letter that he had written himself and that she had received one day that seemed so long ago.

"Yes…I was reading it when the orcs attacked our house in the hidden valley…I just stuffed it into my pocket and forgot I had it until I woke up at your place and found it…how did you…?"

"I saw it on the ground when we were fighting the goblins and thought that maybe you would like to have it back"

"Thank you" she offered him her most sincere smile and he chuckled.

"Let's go back to the others"

He helped her up on her feet and as she was still a bit weak, held her by the arm to walk back to the camp where they were warmly greeted by the company who were happy to see that the young girl was alright.

"For a moment, you really scared us" Ori said.

"Yes, I thought we were going to lose our captain" Gloïn nodded.

They sat around the fire and ate the stew Bombur had prepared. Kili didn't leave Luna's side and when he looked up at some point, he met Thorin's glance above the fire. It only lasted a second but a bad feeling suddenly caught the dwarf. There had been something in his uncle's eyes…it wasn't the worry he had read earlier, or at least it wasn't a worry directed at the same thing. The dwarf's eyes had merely flashed from him to the girl sitting next to him, for such a brief instant that he even wondered if he hadn't imagined it. There was something in that glance that Kili had never seen before, something that seemed to be silently judging the bond between him and the girl.

He finished his meal in silence and soon, the dwarves headed towards their bedrolls to take a well-deserved sleep. Both Fili and Kili helped Luna up and walked with her towards the place where they had left their bags.

The young girl was so exhausted that she fell asleep as soon as she pulled her blanket over her and when he was certain she was in a deep sleep, Fili turned towards his brother.

"So, what happened?" he whispered with a grin.

"What do you mean?" Kili answered in a tired voice, ready for sleep.

"Don't try to fool me. Oïn came back to the camp before you two, saying you were following but you didn't turn up for a good ten minutes. Plus you had gone before that with a shirt to give her, as if it didn't look suspicious enough already"

"Please, stop it" the young dwarf desperately sighted.

"Alright, alright, I'm teasing you…but you must admit that it looked quite suspect. Also she was blushing when you came back, any stranger to the company who would have seen the pair of you at that moment wouldn't have wondered for long what you had been doing away from the others"

"Fili! How can you even imply…"

"I'm not implying it Kili, I know you would never do anything of that sort…at least not now…"

"Hey!"

"…but that's what it could have looked like. Even Thorin looked like he had thought of it"

The words Kili had been about to say didn't pass his lips as the memory of his uncle's glance came back to his mind. He shook his head and gave a determined look to his brother.

"Nothing happened between Luna and me, and nothing ever will"

"You don't know that"

"Yes I do, it's impossible. It just won't happen, that's all. Now let me sleep"

He turned around to face the other way and turn his back to his brother. A little silence passed then Fili's voice came again, so low he barely heard it.

"You love her, don't you?"

There was no joking, no teasing, not even the hint of a smile in his voice. In this moment, he was the protective big brother who always spoke up for him, cared for him and knew what he was thinking and how he felt at anytime. He was the brother in whose arms he had found a refuge to cry when their father had died, when Luna had left with her family for the hidden valley, when the other dwarves had mocked him for his lack of beard,…He was the brother who shared his fears and hopes, his successes and failures, his misery and happiness.

Kili let out a deep sight.

"Yes"


	16. The skin changer

_**Almost 100 followers, I can't believe it! I did not expect at all that so many people would like this story so quickly, I'm very happy, thank you all guys! **_  
><em><strong>Frozenangel1988 and heroherondaletotheresuce, I can't believe you read it all in one sitting, that's amazing! Thank you for your support, I'm so glad that you are enjoying it so much! <strong>_

_**I would also like to say a big thanks to SwirlingEpiphany for your correction! As I said at the beginning, I am not a native English speaker but decided to write this fan fiction in English because first of all I love this language and secondly, I want to improve myself with it, so it's kind of a challenge to me. I am really trying my best to use a vocabulary as diversified as possible and to limit the grammar mistakes in the text but obviously it can't be perfect so thank you for giving me this correction, I will remember it from now on :)**_

_**As ever, let me know what you think and if you ever find any grammar mistake that regularly comes back, please let me know :) Enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter XV : The skin changer<strong>

The following days, Bilbo was often sent to scout for any sign of the orcs while the company had started to move on again, carefully advancing under the cover of the trees.

Luna really wished she could go with the hobbit. Since that night after the fight with Azog when she had found herself alone with Kili for a few moments, something strange had settled between the two of them, something unfamiliar and a bit awkward that she couldn't put a word on.  
>They were still teasing each other, chuckling at the same things and talking whenever they wanted yet it didn't feel as natural and innocent as before and while the young girl was doing her best to avoid meeting his eyes, he seemed to be doing everything to meet her glance.<br>In addition to that awkward tension, some of the dwarves were often grinning at them or even teasingly winking whenever they were together which never failed to have them both blush and part from each other.

Thankfully, some of the others didn't even seem to notice anything, or if they did they pretended not to see it but what worried most the young girl was Thorin.  
>When she had woken up the morning after that odd night, most of the others had still been asleep and the first thing she had seen were his eyes that had quickly turned away as soon as she had caught them staring in her direction.<br>She hadn't really paid attention to this until she had turned around and almost bumped into Kili who had been sleeping so close to her she had found herself mere inches from his face. Although that would have made her laugh under normal circumstances, she had frowned and almost hurriedly stood up, understanding that Thorin had not been looking at her precisely but at _them_. She hadn't had the time to read in his eyes what he had been thinking about this but had found it wiser not to ask….

From that moment, she had decided to act as normal as she could to erase any doubt about her relationship with the young prince in the dwarves' minds, if any doubts there were. And it that meant acting more distant with him…well then, be it. By no means she could let her focus slip away from the quest.

* * *

><p>They had been walking for almost a week now and had come to an halt to wait for Bilbo who had gone scouting ahead after they had heard the howls of the wargs.<br>Luna had taken good care to stand as far as possible from Kili as she could while they were waiting and avoided the young dwarf's interrogating glance until the hobbit hurriedly came back, out of breath and worry clear on his face.

"How close is the pack?" Dwalin muttered, axe in hand.

"Too close, a couple of leagues, no more…but that's not the worst of it"

"Have the wargs picked up our scent?"

"Did they see you?"

"No…that's not it…" the hobbit was obviously having a hard time trying to catch his breath but the others didn't seem to notice. Gandalf proudly smiled and turned to the others.

"What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse, excellent burglar material!" he exclaimed.

The dwarves nodded and started chatting to each other. The hobbit's face turned to irritation and he raised his voice.

"Will you…will you just listen?!" he suddenly exclaimed and they all grew quiet again. "I am trying to tell you that there is something else out there"

There was a pause during which some of the dwarves exchanged worried looks. Gandalf took a step forward.

"What shape did it take? Like a bear?" he asked in a lower tone.

"Yes…but bigger, much bigger" the hobbit frowned at him and Luna copied his action. Was there something the wizard had omitted to tell them?

"I say we double back" Bofur said, getting some of the others' approval nods.

"And be run down by a pack of orcs?" Thorin shook his head.

"There is a house not far from here" Gandalf broke the dwarves' chattering.

Only then did Luna remember the discussion she had had with the wizard and lord Elrond in Rivendell weeks ago. He had spoken then of a mysterious person who might be able to help them reach Mirkwood safe and sound but she didn't know why, she had the strange feeling that the wizard hadn't quite thought this through at the time and had first focused on crossing the mountains.

"Whose house? Is he a friend or foe?" Thorin asked.

"He is neither. He will either welcome us, or he will kill us"

The young girl rolled her eyes. The wizard really did have some strange ideas sometimes.

"What choice do we have?"

"None" he replied, "Come on"

The company arrived at the edge of the forest in which they had been walking, taking advantage of the trees to hide them from their enemies' view. In front of them lied a big plain and a bit further stood a single solitary house.

They nervously looked around them to check for any sign of the orcs then the wizard nodded and they raced out of the woods into the plain.

They hadn't even ran ten meters when a loud, terrifying roar was heard behind them. They kept on running, eyes focused on their destination that was getting closer. They felt the ground shake before even hearing the sound of heavy footsteps chasing them and Luna's blood froze in her veins when she shot a quick look behind her shoulder and saw a massive bear bursting out of the forest.

Bombur had seen it too and the young girl watched him in awe sprinting faster than she had ever seen anyone do and outrun the whole company.

"Open the doors!" Gandalf yelled above the bear's roars when the first dwarves reached the house.

The door swung open when they threw themselves against it.

"Quickly!"

The dwarves entered one by one and as soon as the last one had entered, the dwarves pushed themselves against the doors to close them while the gigantic head of the bear had managed to worm its way through.

Luna saw Bilbo raising his elvish dagger but was herself too bewildered to move and finally, after a huge effort, they managed to close the doors and locked themselves in.

There was short silence during which the dwarves tried to catch their breaths.

"Gandalf…what was that?" the young girl sighed. She had been expecting the orcs to be after them…not a huge bear.

"That is our host"

She almost dropped her jaw in surprise and from the looks she caught on the others' faces, she wasn't the only one to be dazzled.

"His name is Beorn, he is a skin changer. Sometimes he's a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable but the man can be reasoned with. However…he is not overly fond of dwarves"

She shot the wizard an exasperated look. If that was his idea of keeping the company safe, she would need to have a talk with him. He just shrugged his shoulders however and turned his heels.

"We will be safe here tonight…I hope"

* * *

><p>The dwarves had settled for the night here and there in the house where everything was way too big for them. Luna had looked around for a place to lie down then ended up choosing the straw like most of the others, knowing that she wouldn't get much sleep anyway. The pain in her ribs had awoken because of their run, her bandage had grown loose and she had to retighten it. Plus, she had deliberately chosen a spot away from where Fili and especially Kili were and she knew that sleeping without their comforting presence next to her meant having nightmares.<p>

She waited until she was more or less sure that they were all sleeping to stand and walk out of the house into a little garden to remake her bandage.

It would probably have been wiser to wake Oïn up but she didn't want to look like she was hurt. She had to be strong and unbreakable like a captain worth of his title ought to be.

The task of tying the bandage back around her chest wasn't as easy as it had seemed though, she had to reach out behind her back and the movement was causing her pain to grow stronger. She cursed beneath her breath when her fourth or fifth attempt failed.

"Let me help"

She startled so violently that she let out a little moan of pain and, although her chest was covered anyway by the bandage and her shirt that she had left hanging around her neck, she crossed her arms in front of her when she saw Kili looking at her.

He was frowning, looking at her in an intense way and she didn't say anything as she turned her back to him and he stepped forward to wrap the bandage tighter around her thorax.

"Do they hurt again?"

"No" she lied, a bit too quickly for him to believe her. "It just got a bit loose while we were running, that's all"

He finished in silence and she quickly put her shirt back on before turning towards him.

"Thanks" she said, looking down at her feet to avoid his glance then walked past him to head back inside but he caught her wrist and she stiffened at his touch.

"Luna…"

She didn't move, didn't even turn around to face him and he sighed.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about"

"Have I done something that annoyed you? I mean…more than usual?"

It was her time to sigh and he freed her arm as she finally turned to look at him.

"No Kili…you have done nothing"

"Well then I don't understand…you've been ignoring me for days…you act distant…what's wrong?"

She bit her lips and there was a little pause during which the dwarf looked expectantly at her.

"Luna…please, say something" he begged.

"It's nothing Kili, I swear. I…I was just a bit tired these past few days, that's all"

"You are not a good liar, you know…You have always been able to tell me everything, why does that have to change now?"

She did not answer and at her surprise, a little smile stretched on his lips. He stepped closer and before she was able to make a move, he took her hands in his.

"You are afraid" he whispered.

"Afraid?"

"And I know of what…it scares me too"

"Kili…" she muttered, fearing where he might be going with this.

Luna only realised how close they had been standing to each other when he closed that distance to press his lips on hers for a quick, gentle kiss, full of hopes and fears.

It had been so brief that she wondered for a moment if she had not imagined it…but the sensation it left on her skin was way too strong to leave place for any doubt in her mind. Hoping that the darkness of the night was hiding her blushing cheeks, she looked up at him and melted into his eyes.

Before any of them even realised they were doing it, they reached for each other. Kili's arm went around the girl's waist, pulling her closer, while his free hand ran through her hair. Luna clung onto his shirt, bringing him towards her then her hands trailed towards his shoulders and their lips met again.

If they both tried to be slow and gentle at the beginning, they quickly gave up as their kiss grew more and more passionate. The young girl was standing on the tip of her toes and a fire was running through her veins and Kili…Kili had never felt so much alive.  
>A low groan came from the back of his throat as she was putting her arms around his neck. His fingers got caught up in her hair then his hand came to cup her face. She tasted of honey and wild berries and something else he couldn't quite put a word on but if warm summer nights had a taste, that would probably be it.<p>

Then, all of a sudden, Luna seemed to come back to consciousness and realise what they were doing.

"Mmh…Kili, no!" she exclaimed, forcing herself to step back and leave his embrace.

They looked at each other in silence for a little moment, the only sound that was heard was their precipitate breathing that they were both trying to catch.

Kili was startled and realised as well what they had been doing. All of a sudden, the warmth of her body against his and the sweet taste of her lips were so brutally taken away from him that it hurt and it felt like he had been slapped back to reality.

"I…I'm sorry…" he muttered, still gasping for air.

"We shouldn't…we…we can't" she whispered and he firmly nodded.

They locked eyes again for a few seconds then Luna turned her heels and walked back inside. Kili brushed his hair away from his face and cursed himself, the sensation of her lips still clear on his. He mentally slapped himself and angrily kicked away a little rock at his feet. What in Durin's name had he just done? Luna was his friend, for Mahal's sake! His captain! Her friendship was one of the most valuable thing to his eyes and he couldn't lose it by allowing himself to get carried away by his little pathetic feelings!

* * *

><p>Luna almost ran back inside and let herself drop on the straw between the sleeping forms of Bofur and Bifur. She bit hard on her lip to not let the tears that were building up in her eyes stream down on her face.<br>Kissing Kili had been the most wonderful thing she had ever done…and parting from him was one of the most painful but she had had to do it. He wasn't in love with her, he couldn't be, that was impossible. She had somehow tricked him into thinking that he fancied her and it had to stop there. They weren't meant to be together, a fool could see it.

Tonight, she had been weak. Having him so close too her…she hadn't been able to stop herself and had let herself fall into his embrace as soon as she had had a chance but that wouldn't happen again. Ever, ever again.

Looking up, she met Bifur's worried glance. The dwarf had not been sleeping and was concerned of what he was seeing. There may be a few things that he couldn't always understand anymore since the accident that had embedded an axe in his skull but Luna's distress was plain enough to him. He shot her a questioning look but she just shrugged her shoulders and turned her eyes away again.

The old warrior reached for her hand and warmly squeezed it to try and comfort her. She offered him a little forced smile that he suddenly saw disappear when Kili came back inside as well.  
>Bifur caught the young dwarf glancing in their direction before walking off towards the spot where his brother was sleeping. He did not look any better than the girl.<p>

The warrior shook his head and couldn't keep his lips from stretching into a little smile.

"_Love…_", he sighed in Khûzdul before turning around and going to back to sleep.

* * *

><p>"So you are the one they call Oakenshield" Beorn said, pouring milk into Fili's enormous mug.<p>

Their host had come back during the night, fortunately in his human form. He was indeed a big, tall man that looked almost as impressive as the bear. The dwarves had woken up to find him preparing breakfast for them and he had invited them to sit down as his big table.

"Tell me…why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?"

He turned to Thorin who looked up in surprise.

"You know of Azog? How?"

"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the orcs came down from the North. The Defiler killed most of my family but some he enslaved. Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him"

The dwarves looked at him, silently weighing his words.

"There are others like you?" Bilbo innocently asked.

"Once there were many"

"And now?"

"Now…there's only one"

The dwarves looked down at their plates, sad and uneasy at the same time but Beorn did not seem to notice it and his eyes trailed on the company for a little moment then he frowned.

"I heard the captain of Erebor was marching besides his king once again to reclaim the mountain" he said. "But I do not see Laïn amongst you. Tell me where he is, for he is a well known acquaintance of mine"

They looked at each other in surprise then all eyes fell on Luna who raised her head for the first time of the day.

"He is dead" she said, in a voice that she tried to keep neutral but that couldn't dissimulate a hint of sadness.

Their host stopped what he was doing and looked gravely at her.

"Dead?" he repeated after a short pause. "How is that so?"

"He was killed by orcs, sent by Azog" the young girl explained.

Anger flashed in the skin changer's eyes at the mention of the name.

"This greatly grieves me. I do not have many friends, but Laïn was one of them. Who are you?"

"I am Luna…his daughter"

"She is the captain now" Ori said and the dwarves gave determined approval nods.

Beorn looked surprised and he seemed to detail her face for a few seconds.

"I thought that only the previous captain's first heir could become captain in his turn. Laïn had two sons before his daughter"

"They were killed as well. I am the last one"

She exchanged a glance with him until he slightly bowed his head. "May they watch over you from Mahal's halls then" he said to their surprise and she awkwardly nodded.

"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn" he turned towards Gandalf.

"Before Durin's day falls, yes" the wizard confirmed.

"You are running out of time"

"This is why we must go through Mirkwood"

"A darkness lies upon that forest. Foul things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need"

Luna raised an eyebrow and stared at Gandalf. She had thought at some point that reaching that forest would bring them to a bit more of safety and give them more chances of reaching Erebor before the orcs ran them down but the more she heard about Mirkwood, the more she was starting to think it might not be that much of a relief to reach it.

"We will take the elven road" the wizard assured. "That path is still safe"

"Safe? The wood elves of Mirkwood are not like their kin. They're less wise and more dangerous" His eyes landed on Thorin. "But it matters not"

"What do you mean?" the dwarf asked in a whisper, snapping his head towards him.

"These lands are crawling with orcs. Their numbers are growing and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive"

All of a sudden, reaching Mirkwood sounded like a relief again. Luna bit her lip ; their host wasn't wrong…it was a miracle that had not seen the orcs again since their fight out of the Goblin Town but it was just a matter of time. By no means would Azog let them go any further without trying his best to stop them.

She looked up at Beorn when he suddenly stood up and they all felt very small.

"I don't usually like dwarves" he growled. "They're greedy, and blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own"

He picked up a white mouse that had climbed on Bofur's arm and they all held their breaths, afraid that he was going to crush it in his fist.

"But orcs I hate more" he ended, breaking the tension that had built up in the room. "What do you need?"

* * *

><p>Thorin announced that they wouldn't linger at Beorn's too long, no time could be wasted if they wanted to reach Erebor before Durin's day so straight after breakfast, the company packed their things to be on the move by midday.<p>

Their host had agreed to let them borrow his ponies until they reached Mirkwood and Luna was tying her bag to her monture's saddle when Fili suddenly appeared behind her, causing her to startle.

"You scared me" she reprimanded him.

She frowned when she saw that the dwarf's usual smily face had turned into one of concern as he looked at her.

"What's going on?" he asked in a low voice so that no one would hear them.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with Kili and you"

She turned her eyes away and pretended to be busy tying things up to her saddle.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

She made a move to walk past him but he put a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from leaving.

"Don't take me for a fool. Something happened between Kili and you last night. There might have already been a bit of tension between the two of you for the past few days but since this morning, something is definitely wrong"

"Please let me go"

"No"

He sighed and forced her to look in his eyes.

"Kili won't tell me a word, he pretends everything is fine but I have rarely seen him like that. He barely ate this morning, he doesn't smile, doesn't seem interested in anything while he is usually the first to be amazed by the smallest of things,…he is my brother, I know when something is wrong with him"

"Maybe he just had a very bad sleep, why do you suppose that I have anything to do with it?"

"Because I know you almost as well as I know him and you are acting just the same"

She shook her head and blinked several times to repress the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

"Luna…"

He sighed then pulled her into a big warm hug such as only a big brother can do.

"You remember what I told you long ago, when you were living with us as a child?" he whispered. "That day when you had been hiding so no one would see you cry for your father and brothers who had gone off to battle and that I found you?"

She nodded against his neck, a single tear rolling down on her cheek. "You said that you would always be a brother to me if I wanted to"

"And that has not changed. I know no one will ever replace Lunkin or Logan, but I will always love you like a brother loves his little sister"

She parted from him to give him a little smile and he rubbed his thumb on her cheek to chase the tear away.

"To me you will always be my sister, just like Kili is my brother, and it kills me to see one of you, or worse, both of you, unhappy. Won't you tell me what happened?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Let's just say that…we might have let ourselves get a bit carried away last night…but it won't happen again"

The dwarf's eyes widened then he bit his lip and just squeezed her shoulder.

"You know, I believe that some things are just meant to happen sometimes and we should not try to fight against them"

He winked at her but she shook her head so he just shrugged his shoulders and went off to put his own things on his pony.

She shot a quick glance at Kili who was standing by his ride a bit further, only to catch him looking at her as well. They both immediately turned their eyes away and Luna let out a deep sigh. They still had a long road before they reached the mountain and it didn't look like it was going to be easy at all.


	17. The darkness of the forest

**Chapter XVI : The darkness of the forest **

The trip to Mirkwood was surprisingly short and easy. Luna had kept looking everywhere around her on the road, expecting the orcs to be anywhere but they encountered no trouble at all and in less than three days, they reached the first lines of trees of the Black Forest.

She dismounted and narrowed her eyes as if trying to discern what might be hidden in the darkness between the trees. She hadn't even stepped in it yet but she knew already that she didn't like that forest at all.

"This forest feels sick" came Bilbo's voice a bit further. "As if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way round?" he asked Gandalf.

"Not unless we go two hundred miles North or twice that distance South" the wizard answered but he too had a worried look on his face as he was staring at the forest.

The young girl bit her lip, thinking that she had once been looking forward to reach Mirkwood, hoping to find a refugee from the orcs here…that sounded like the silliest thing ever right now. If it had only been up to her, there was no way she would have even stayed there any longer.

She looked behind her at the plain that they had now crossed and suddenly caught a glimpse of the shape of a great bear on a hill further away and narrowed her eyes. So that's why there hadn't been any sign of the orcs…

"Set the horses loose, let them return to their master" Gandalf ordered, seeing the bear as well and while the dwarves were starting to get ready to continue on foot, he walked off towards an old statue that stood at the entrance of the forest.

"I don't know if this is my dwarfish natural aversion for forests speaking but I don't like that plan" Fili muttered, stepping next to Luna who slowly nodded. Kili was next to him as usual but they didn't even look at each other.

They hadn't spoken a word to the other for the past three days and although it hurt her, the young girl was decided to not let anything show.

"No…I don't like it either" Bilbo answered.

Dwalin had been about to set Gandalf's horse loose as well when the wizard suddenly hurried back towards the group.

"No, not my horse! I need it!" he exclaimed.

Bilbo and Luna both snapped their heads towards him.

"You're leaving us?!" the hobbit pleaded.

"I would not do this unless I had to"

"Gandalf!" Luna exclaimed, stepping towards him.

He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"You will keep them safe"

"But…"

He turned to Bilbo and they exchanged a few words in low voices then the wizard walked towards his horse, giving them instructions and taking just a short pause in front of Thorin to mutter in a severe voice "Do not enter that mountain without me" and then he looked at the company.

"You must stay on the path, do not leave it. If you do, you'll never find it again" he said before turning his horse around and leaving them there, still bewildered by his hasty departure.

"Come on" Thorin pressed them, turning towards the entrance of the forest. "We much reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's day. It's our one chance to find the hidden door!"

And they all followed him as he stepped under the trees.

* * *

><p>Darkness quickly crept all around them because of the trees that had become enormous and loomed over them with their many branches keeping the light of the sun from reaching the ground.<p>

Their progress was slow. They had to walk in a line to follow the path that was covered with so many dead leaves that the dwarf at the front constantly had to brush them away with his foot to make sure they were still on it.

They constantly felt as if they were being watched by unfriendly eyes and all of them kept shooting worried glances around them, their hands never really leaving their weapons just in case.

But worst of all, there was something sickening in this forest. The atmosphere was heavy and it didn't take long for them all to feel exhausted and dizzy. They quickly lost any notion of time and space : they didn't remember how long they had been walking under the trees nor what time it was and everything looked terribly alike.

"Air…I need air!" someone exclaimed at some point but Luna wasn't even sure whose voice that was.

The hours turned into days…or at least they thought so, it was so hard to tell the day from the night that they only stopped to rest when they were too tired to go on. Sometimes they didn't even take the time to take their blankets out of their bags and just fell asleep where they had stopped, hoping a good rest would make them feel better but it never did. At most, it only brought them enough strength to keep going.

What was meant to happened finally happened when Nori at the front suddenly stopped at some point and stared in front of him in horror.

"Nori? Why have we stopped?" Thorin asked.

"The path" the dwarf muttered, pointing in front of him. "It's disappeared!"

Indeed, the ground was disappearing into a cliff a few meters away and the path with it.

"What's going on?"

"The path, we lost the path!"

"Find it!" Thorin barked. "All of you, look! Look for the path!"

As the dwarves starting helplessly looking for it, the air seemed to grow even thicker and the darkness grew around them.

"I don't remember any of this…none of it is familiar!" Balin's voice seemed to echo in their ears.

The voices of the dwarves sounded more and more vague and distant, echoing in Luna's head until they turned into a big blur that provoked nothing but a big headache.

She mentally slapped herself and looked around her only to realise in horror that the dwarves were starting to venture further and further away from each other in their search for the path.

"We must stay together…" she muttered and looked for Thorin who was standing on a rock a bit further.

"Thorin! We must stay together, call them back!" she cried out to him, pointing at the dwarves who were slowly walking away.

The dwarf's eyes flashed to them and he seemed to come back to a bit more sense. He called the company back.

"We'll camp here now…I don't know whether it's night or day in this accursed place but I have had enough for now" he declared and the others strongly approved his words.

Luna sat with her back against a rock. A tree would have been more comfortable but she did not trust them in this place. It was uncommon for a dwarf to think of a tree as a potential enemy as if it was a person but in this place, everything looked way too doomed to take any unnecessary risks. If there was a time to believe the elvish tales, now was a better one than any.

She caught the apple Bombur tossed her and ate it slowly, afraid that she might be sick if she ate too much here. She hadn't imagined Gandalf's aversion for this place would turn out to be so true. She had no idea of how long they had been walking under the trees but it already felt like an eternity. She even feared for a moment that Durin's day might pass without them realising it lost in the forest.  
>No, she couldn't think like that. She had to keep her spirits up, to keep the dwarves safe. They were going to find that path, and if not, this forest wasn't infinite, they would end up reaching its edge at some point.<p>

She woke up feeling worst than she had before falling asleep and the company started walking again in a line, following Thorin in silence although they had the impression that this place was all but silent.

"I hate this place" Ori mumbled in front of her as if he was speaking to someone walking besides him but there was no one.

Their minds were playing tricks on them, making them see and feel things that weren't real. When Bilbo looked down at his feet, he almost let out a small cry when he saw himself walking backwards. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he focused on the dwarf walking in front of him then turned around to check on Dori behind him and met his own eyes that gave him a questioning look so he decided it was wiser to keep walking forward and not look around him too much.

_Luna…_

The young girl shook her head to clear her thoughts. She could hear the occasional grunts and words of the dwarves echoing in her head and a low buzzing sound.

_Luna._

"What?"

She looked around her, this time she was sure someone had called her name but there was no one.

_Luna! _

She caught glimpse of a movement between two bushes a bit further away then a silhouette stepped out from behind low branches and her father looked gravely at her.

_Luna, what are you doing? _

"Fa…father…?" she mumbled in shock. "You are…alive?"

The silhouette shook his head.

_No. You must go back to the company. _

"But I am with them…"

_No you are not, you just lost them._

Her eyes left the silhouette of her father for a brief moment to wander around her and she realised that indeed, she was on her own, there was no sign of the company.

_Go back to them. You are their captain and they need you._

"And I you" she mumbled, not even realising that tears were building up in her eyes. "I don't want to be the captain, I don't want to go to Erebor, I want to be with you" she pleaded in a little voice.

_You will, in your time. But in the meanwhile, you must do this. Go. _

"I…"

"Luna! Luna!" came a voice behind her.

A hand landed on her shoulder and made her jump around to find Bilbo watching her with a concern look in his eyes.

"Are you alright? Where did you go?"

She shot a quick look behind her shoulder to the place where she had seen her father a few seconds ago but he wasn't there anymore.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You were walking at the back of the group then suddenly I turned around and you weren't there anymore, you must have walked away without realising it" Bilbo said. "What did you see?"

"Nothing…it was just an illusion…let's go back to the others"

He looked suspicious but nodded and they hurried back after the company that hadn't even noticed their brief absence.

"Who were you talking to?" the hobbit asked in a timid voice.

She shot him a quick glance, she hadn't thought he had heard her speaking to the illusion of her father.

"It's…I saw my father" she muttered in a low voice to avoid being heard by the others although that was very unlikely.

Bilbo frowned.

"You…you said you did not want to be the captain…is that true?"

"It is my duty to be the captain, and Thorin seems to want me for this so then be it" she declared in a neutral voice.

"But…"

"It is my duty to the dwarves of Erebor, my duty to my king, to my line…my duty to my father"

"Yes but duty apart…I mean…if you could choose for yourself, and only for yourself to be the captain…would you?"

She looked up at in front of her at the line of dwarves and let out a deep sigh.

"No"

He shot her a questioning look and she shrugged her shoulder.

"What you are basically asking me is what life would I want if I were able to choose and moreover, to choose only regarding what I would like. In that case I wouldn't choose a life as the captain of Erebor. I am not made for this, I never was. My father and brothers were, they should have been the ones following Thorin"

"But…I don't understand…you act like a captain, you're even doing a fantastic job as far as I know…"

"Because it's only the beginning but if we do reclaim the mountain and Thorin sits on his throne, then the guard will be reformed and I will stand at the king's side until the day I die, constantly looking around for any sign of an enemy or trying to figure out any danger…I know it doesn't sound that bad, it's a highly respected title, you might even think that I am being childish and capricious but…"

She sighed again.

"It's not the kind of life I am made for…There are still countless things that I don't know but that one, I have no doubt about it. A life in a shining armour, standing until death under a mountain in the shadow of a king with six guards around me…that's not what I want"

She had never told this to any one so openly, not even to Lunkin when he was alive. Of course, he had doubted over the years that she did not want to ever become the captain but she had never really openly said so, and at the time it didn't matter anyway : he was alive so he was going to replace their father when the time would have come.  
>The evil atmosphere of the place was probably allowing her to speak her mind more frantically but still, she realised how much her trust in the hobbit had grown.<p>

"What do you want?" he asked.

"To be free. All my life I lived hidden in the blue mountains, barely allowed to leave my house, training everyday to become what I might never have had to be if the orcs hadn't found us. I…I loved my family, don't misunderstand me, I loved them and always will but I often found myself looking out my window at the wide spaces that stretched outside the valley, behind the blue mountains, and wishing for nothing more than to go and travel the world. Yes, that's what I want. A life where I could do whatever I want, go wherever I feel like, meet new people, discover new things,…without rules, responsibilities, kingdom to reclaim from a dragon or a mountain to hide within."

A little smile had stretched on her lips while she was talking and her eyes were shining then she shook her head and her smile disappeared.

"No mountain?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow, "Aren't dwarves supposed to be very fond of living in mountains?"

"Yeah…Can I tell you a secret?"

He nodded.

"You will probably think that this is the silliest thing ever but…I am claustrophobic. I hate confined spaces and not being able to see the sky above me…I know, it's ridiculous, right? There are so many much more frightening things to be scared of…and yet here I am, a dwarf supposed to be the captain of Erebor, uncomfortable inside a mountain"

Bilbo couldn't help giggling and feared for an instant that it would be rude but she smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"It does sound a bit odd…I didn't know that" he said.

"Not many people know…actually, besides my family, Fili and Kili's mother is the only one who has ever known I think. I wonder is she still remembers it. And I try not to show it, thankfully, I still have quite a good control over my fear. Since the beginning of this journey, the only moment when I felt a bit worried was in Goblin Town, but then I had many other reasons to worry so it kind of turned my claustrophobia down a little bit"

The hobbit thoughtfully nodded, trying to imagine what it would be like for her to live in Erebor if they retook it.

"Why do you not think that you are a good captain?" he asked after a short pause, coming back to their original subject.

"From my father's three children, I was always the worst when it came to train me for the job, no matter the subject. Also the most turbulent, reckless and hotheaded…not really the qualities you would want in a captain. Plus I know myself…even in this quest, there are sometimes things that Thorin says or does that I can't approve of and I can't help it but I always have the urge to let him know and confront him on them. What will it be like when he will be sitting on his throne, ruling Erebor and that I will be there, witnessing his every move? There are punishments for captains who either fail or confront in any way the king they are sworn to protect"

"What…kind of punishments?"

"It depends of the gravity of the fault. The least you can get is to be put in a dungeon…then if I remember well, there is exile and finally, death"

"Exile? Death?!" the hobbit repeated in shock. "Isn't that a bit…excessive?"

"Our duty is to care for his security. The king must be able to trust his captain with his life and to rely on him for anything. If we start questioning him or speaking against him…that bond is forever broken. And personally, I would much rather be exiled or killed than left to rot in the deep underground dungeons of Erebor where the only person I will ever see again is the guard who will bring me old bread every morning. I have never seen the dungeons myself, actually rare are those who see them and come back to describe them but from what I have been told, if a captain is locked, he spends the rest of his days in the deepest parts of the mountain where no light shines and with the interdiction to see anyone again, even his family. He is to be forgotten and even his bones won't be brought back after he dies."

He swallowed nervously, not willing to ask if it had already happened before and she waved her hand as if to chase the conversation they had just had away.

"But those dreams of freedom are just the dreams of a foolish girl, I am the captain whether I want it or not and I will fulfil my obligations as best as I could. I am honoured to be entitled to this post"

She gave him a little smile and he returned it although he wasn't convinced. He had never really asked himself the question was it a good thing for the dwarves to retake Erebor, he had simply assumed the answer was yes, and it probably was for most of them but maybe not all of them…

They suddenly stopped walking when Ori picked up a gourd from the ground and Dori muttered something Luna didn't get from where she was.

"There's dwarves in these woods!" he exclaimed.

"Dwarves from the blue mountains no less" Bofur added, taking a look at the object. "This is exactly the same as mine"

"Because it is yours!" Biblo rolled his eyes. "You understand? We're going around in circles, we are lost!"

"We are not lost, we keep heading East" Thorin snapped.

"But which way is East?"

"We've lost the sun"

The dwarves' voices slowly got louder as the sickening atmosphere of the forest was playing on their nerves and before they even realised why, they were arguing between each other.

"The sun…" Bilbo muttered, looking up at the higher branches of the trees that were hiding the sky away. "We have to find the sun"

Luna looked at him with an eyebrow raised. She didn't have any energy left to argue with the others and watched as the hobbit seemed to be looking for an idea.

She let her eyes wander up the trunk of a massive tree and very high above them, saw a few patches of light that were piercing through the leaves.

She suddenly turned her eyes back on Bilbo and their glances met at the same time, with the same idea.

"Up there…" she muttered and he nodded.

"We need to get up there so we can…" he tried to raise his voice above all the others who were now almost fighting but it proved vain : no one was listening.

"Don't even bother" she rolled her eyes. "Do you think you could climb up there?"

He nodded. The tree had many large branches that were more than strong enough to carry the weight of a hobbit.

"Stay here and try to calm them down, I'll be back in a second" he said and she nodded as he started climbing up the tree with great agility.

She was about to turn to the others again when her eyes suddenly caught something moving behind a tree. Thorin behind her had seen it too and exchanged a concerned look with her.

"What was that?" she whispered and he slowly shook his head.

"Enough!" he yelled at the others. "Wait, all of you!"

The dwarves stopped their fighting and turned towards him in surprise. Luna unsheathed her twin blades, there was definitely something moving behind that tree, but not only…

"We are being watched" Thorin muttered.

As soon as he said that, a giant spider leaped from behind the tree towards Luna and although she had the reflex to raise her blades that embedded themselves in its belly, she was knocked down and fell on her back with the dead spider on top of her.

She heard her name being shouted then screeches came from everywhere around them. She extirpated herself from under the spider's body and her eyes widened when she saw that the company was being attacked by a dozen others, coming from every direction.

She joined the others who were trying to push them back but a bad feeling took hold of her : the dwarves, exhausted from their journey through the forest and on the edge of their nerves, were in no condition to fight.

Her glance landed on Fili and Kili fighting back to back a bit further and her eyes widened in horror when she saw the huge spider coming down on them from the top of a tree with its web. They hadn't seen it, too busy fighting back the ones around them on the ground and she watched the spider coming closer and closer to them, its sting aiming at Kili.

"No!" she shouted and without thinking of what she was doing, she raced forward and pushed the brothers away so violently that they fell to the ground, a fraction of second before the spider hit. She felt a burning pain spreading in her veins from her side where the spider had stung her and her body began to feel numb.

Her vision blurred and she briefly met Kili's terrified eyes before everything became dark.


	18. The Woodland Realm

_**Hi everyone, I'm sorry that I haven't updated in over a week while I usually try to post a new chapter every two or three days but I went on a holiday and didn't get the chance to write any more chapter...**_

**_Big thanks to those who favourited/followed this story and a very big thank you for the reviews, I am always so happy to read them!_**

**_I hope you will enjoy this chapter, I am afraid it is more of a filling chapter but don't worry, I have many ideas for this story and it should get more interesting very soon...Enjoy! _**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter XVII : The Woodland Realm<strong>

Luna slowly woke up and it took her a little while to realise that she was unable to move. Something white and sticky was tightly wrapped all around her, making it impossible for her to even grab a dagger to free herself. She swallowed nervously and focused to keep a steady breathing. Now wasn't the time to have a panic attack.

She stopped struggling for a few seconds and closed her eyes to improve her focus and calm herself down. She could feel her heart beating so heard in her chest that she feared it might explode.

Around her, she could faintly hear strange noises and then the muffled cry of Bombur. She opened her eyes and saw the black shapes of the giant spiders that had attacked them and guessed that the rest of the company had been captured as well.

She could feel bile rising in her throat and sweat forming on her brow. She couldn't stand it, it was too much for her and as she was on the merge of passing out again, a loud screech suddenly made her heart skip a beat.

She gasped when another, smaller shape, stood above her and suddenly, she fell in the air. The webs that had been created over the time by the spiders were fortunately strong enough to cushion her fall and she didn't land too brutally on the ground where her bonds broke open.

She shakily unwrapped herself from the web and rolled on the ground where she curled up on her side for a few seconds, taking deep breaths and trying to control her shaking body. Peeping a look up in the trees, she saw the small form of Bilbo who was finishing cutting the dwarves free and one by one, they all fell around her and unwrapped themselves from the cocoons as well.

She startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Kili's worried face looking down at her.

"Luna?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to say that she was alright but loud screeches interrupted her. The spiders had come back and threw themselves at their escaping preys, not wanting to let their dinner go.

She pushed herself up on her feet, fighting back her nausea and avoided a spider that launched at them. Fortunately, Kili quickly killed it and Luna looked around her. They could not fight the spiders again, they had to go away as far as as they could.

"Run!" she yelled at the dwarves.

She met Thorin's eyes a bit further and he nodded.

"Come on!" he shouted and gestured for the dwarves to follow him.

They didn't go very far though : a huge spider suddenly landed in front of Thorin, blocking their way. The dwarf raised his sword but Luna stepped in front of him and shot a murderous glance at the spider.

She braced herself for an attack when a sound had them all snap their heads up and they saw, high in the trees, a silhouette jumping from branch to branch then launch into the air to grab a string of web and let himself slid down to the ground where he crashed the spider that had created it then slid on the dead leaves, killing everything standing in his way, including the spider facing the company and finally, he stood up and aimed an arrow to his bow straight at the dwarves.

Luna was too bewildered by this demonstration of astonishing agility to realise at once that a whole group of elves were circling the company, aiming arrows towards them. She mentally slapped herself and stared at the blonde elf who was still standing in front of her.

"Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf" he spat. "It would be my pleasure"

Thorin's hand landed on Luna's shoulder and slightly pushed her back behind him and he gave her a small nod so she would lower her blades.

That's when they heard a scream coming from further away and spinning around, Luna's eyes widened in horror when she saw that Kili wasn't with the company and that a spider had taken a hold of his leg and was pulling him away.

"Kili!" Fili's and her voice mixed up together and she tried to push past the elves but the blonde one in front of her grabbed her and with quick, precise moves, forced her down on her knees with her arms blocked behind her back.

"Let me go!"

"Try that again and you're dead" he threatened, his dagger against her throat.

In the meanwhile, another elf, this time a woman with long ginger hair, had arrived and managed to kill the spider holding Kili while pushing back others.

"Shove me a dagger!" the dwarf shouted while another spider was racing towards him. "Quick!"

"If you think I'm giving you a weapon dwarf, you're mistaken!" she exclaimed and threw a dagger at the spider that fell dead after one last agonising screech.

She then pushed Kili back towards the company and the dwarves started being searched.

Luna shot her darkest glance at the blonde elf who returned it then called for the she-elf.

"Tauriel. Search that one" he ordered.

The ginger elf looked at Luna in surprise and her surprise seemed to grow with every weapon she could find on the girl.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"Why does it matter?" the girl snapped back.

Tauriel raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything more. She exchanged a few words in Elvish with the blonde elf then he was given Thorin's word and examined it for an instant. He spoke some more in Elvish then turned to the dwarf.

"Where did you get this?" he asked dryly.

"It was given to me"

The elf pointed the blade towards Thorin's throat.

"Not just a thief, but a liar as well" he said softly.

"I did not know Thranduil's son was so prompt to hasty, unreasoned judgements" Luna coldly said.

All eyes landed on her and more arrows were pointed at her while she locked eyes with the blonde elf.

"Do I know you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and detailing her face.

His eyes narrowed when they landed on the moon-shaped scar on her face.

"Legolas, what is going on?" Tauriel asked.

"It looks like the dwarves of Erebor are on their way to the mountain again" he simply answered then he gave orders in elvish and the company was pushed along as the elves started making their way back to their kingdom.

"Thorin, where is Bilbo?" Bofur whispered before an elf pulled him along.

* * *

><p>They walked in a silent line with the elves around them while they were being lead through the forest. Despite the fact that they had been captured, all the dwarves couldn't help but feel relieved as the air was growing lighter and the trees were slowly becoming smaller, allowing the light of the sun to shine on them.<br>When they finally arrived in front of the huge doors of the Woodland Realm, the air was pure and all trace of hallucination had left their minds.

Luna found herself staring in awe at the scenery around her once they passed the doors. They were lead across many bridges and little flights of steps that seemed to be carved in the huge and deep roots of the biggest and oldest trees ever, sprouting from everywhere. This place was so big that rivers were even seen here and there, flowing underneath the bridges or falling down into little cascades. This place was magic, there was no other word to describe it.

They made their way to a little platform from which a flight of steps lead to a magnificent throne on which a tall elf was sitting. A crown made of branches and red leaves was placed on his head and he had a look of majesty and wisdom that could only come from countless years of existence.

He looked down at the company huddled together on the platform then stood up and slowly made his way down the steps to look at them all. His eyes stopped on Thorin.

"This is indeed unexpected…Thorin Oakenshield has trespassed into my kingdom" his voice was neutral but there was something powerful about it.

"Thranduil" Thorin softly said

Legolas spoke a few words in elvish and although he kept his indifferent expression, the king's eyes briefly flashed to Luna.

"Bring them to the cells" he ordered. "Except for these two" he pointed at Thorin and Luna then all the others were forced by guards to leave and despite all their protestations, they were lead out of sight towards the cells of Mirkwood.

Thranduil turned to the two dwarves who where still standing there, covered in dirt and spider web but both watching him with defiant eyes.

His glance passed on the young girl and like Legolas had done, he seemed to be detailing her features for a few seconds, his eyes briefly stopping on her scar.

"Not only is Thorin Oakenshield traveling to the lonely mountain, but a child of his captain is at his side. And if you are here, I doubt Laïn will be far. Where is he?" he said.

"He is dead" Thorin coldly answered. "You stand before the legitimate captain of Erebor"

The elf king's eyes slightly narrowed and Tauriel, who was still standing with Legolas a bit further widened her eyes in surprise.

"Is that so?" Thranduil whispered, more to himself than to the dwarves. "Thus Azog finally got what he had long wished for, the end of the captains"

"The line has not ended, not as long as Luna lives" Thorin growled.

"Indeed…But I believe it is just a matter of time now"

Thorin raised an eyebrow and the elf took a few steps towards them. Luna stood still while he looked her up and down. He was almost twice her height but she wasn't going to let herself be intimidated by him.

"Azog will hunt you and kill you" Thranduil whispered.

"Let him come" she answered in the same low tone. "I don't fear him"

"You should"

"If Azog is to kill me then be it…but I will do everything in my power to bring him to the grave with me" she gritted between her teeth. "Contrarily to you, I don't run away from fights"

If Thranduil was offended, he let nothing appear.

"I am accustomed to the recklessness and insolence of your line for I have known many captains. None were as young as you are though, is Thorin Oakenshield that desperate that he relies on a little girl to protect him?"

He barely had time to finish his sentence before Luna grabbed a little dagger hidden under her clothes and that the elves hadn't found when they had searched them in the forest. She pointed it towards Thranduil who, for once, seemed surprised by the swiftness and precision of her movement.

"Do not talk of him like that or I'll show you what the little girl can do" she spat but quickly, half a dozen guards were around her, ready to fire their arrows at her as soon as their king would give them the permission.

Luna did not even spare a look for them and determinately kept her eyes locked with Thranduil's.

"Bring her to the cells" he then said after a little pause.

She still didn't leave his eyes when the guards abruptly grabbed her, knocked the blade out of her hand and tied her arms behind her back.

"You are a coward" she spat before the guards could pull her away. Before being dragged out of sight, she exchanged a quick look with Thorin and although he didn't say anything she caught a glimpse of pride in his eyes and then she was pulled around a corner and the two kings were left alone.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the cells, Luna saw that the dwarves had been locked alone or in pair and they all watched as she was dragged in front of one by Legolas who ignored the curses coming from every direction.<p>

"Search her again" he told Tauriel who had followed him. "Make sure that she doesn't keep any weapon this time"

The ginger elf obeyed and Luna wondered for an absurd moment if she was going to be robbed of all her clothes. She only had her shirt, pants and boots on when she was finally pushed inside the cell in which Kili had been locked previously. He caught her before she could fall and shot his most murderous glance at Legolas who left without a word, calling to Tauriel to follow him but she seemed to hesitate and remained a bit longer.

"The stone in your hand, what is it?" she asked Kili, noticing the little stone he had been playing with.

Luna shot a look at it and recognised the token Dis had given her son before they had left.

"It is a talisman" the dwarf answered to her great surprise.

Tauriel's face did not change but Luna was certain that she was curious.

"A powerful spell lies upon it, if any but a dwarf reads the runes on this stone…he will be forever cursed" he suddenly held up the stone so that the elf would see it better and she took a step backwards.

Luna bit her lip to subdue a smile. She still remembered the day when they had left the blue mountains to start their quest. She had caught a glimpse of Dis warmly embracing her sons and having them repeating a dozen times that they would be careful. She had had to promise it too for Fili and Kili's mother had always cared a lot for her as well and Luna didn't doubt that if she had been her daughter as well, she wouldn't have let her go.

"Or not" Kili added before Tauriel could go, "depending on whether you believe in that kind of things, it's just a token. A rune-stone. My mother gave it to me so I'd remember my promise"

"What promise?"

"That I will come back to her"

Now, Luna rolled her eyes at his flirty attitude. She shot a deadly glance at Tauriel.

"What do you want from us?" she snapped at her, cutting short Kili's little game and the elf looked surprised by this sudden harsh tone.

"Is it true? That you are the captain of Erebor?" she murmured.

"Why? Am I too small? A girl? Too thin?"

"That is not what I meant"

"I don't know why it should bother you anyway, captain or not, you captured me, are you happy?"

Even Kili seemed to be surprised by her harsh tone and irritated look. He had never seen Luna be some cold and rude to someone she did not know, even if that person was an elf.

"How did you know Legolas, back in the forest?" Tauriel asked.

"Keep your friends close to you, and your enemies even closer"

"What?"

"That's something my father used to say a lot. A captain should always know the people his king might have to deal with someday, let them be friends or foes"

The elf pensively nodded. She was also a captain in Mirkwood and had been very surprised to find another woman bearing such an important title. She did not know much about this dwarf girl yet, no more than the few stories she had heard of her father and predecessor, but there was something about her that she had never found in anybody.

"It was very bold of you to threaten the king in such a way" she said.

"You did what?" Kili exclaimed, bewildered and turning to Luna who shrugged her shoulders.

"If he insults or threatens my king then I will stop him, no matter who he is"

"You are a surprising person"

"You have no idea" Kili sighed, rolling his eyes.

* * *

><p>When they were finally left alone, Luna sighed and sat on the ground with her back against the wall of the cell. Kili watched her do and an awkward silence settled between them. They hadn't really spoken since what had happened at Beorn's house and it felt awkward to be locked in the same cell now.<p>

Kili had felt really miserable since that had happened and that they had stopped talking. He was used to always have Luna at his side, to talk with her of whatever would come to his mind or just be silent and walk on. He was used to her presence next to him when they slept almost as much as he was used to Fili's and ever since they had left Beorn, all of that had been taken away from him : she had been avoiding him day and night and he could count on the fingers of one hand the words they had exchanged.

It had to change, to go back to how it was before, she was too important to him to lose her like that. He hesitated for a few moments, letting silence settle between them until he took a deep breath and sat next to her.

Luna tensed when he did so but she forced herself to let nothing appear of her uneasiness.

"I'm sorry for what happened at Beorn's house" Kili said in a half-whisper to make sure that the others in their cells would not hear him.

Luna was taken aback by these words that came out of the blue. She paused for a moment then shook her head.

"Don't be, I am the one who should be sorry"

"No, Luna, it's my fault. I don't know what took me…but I regret it, I sincerely do and I can't go on if I know that you despise me"

"Kili, I could never despise you" she sighed, turning towards him to meet his eyes and squeezing his hands. "Without you, I am nothing"

"Nothing but a foolish squirrel" he grinned at her and she chuckled. "So are we alright?"

She firmly nodded.

"We won't talk about it again" she said and he smiled again, feeling a wave of relief flowing through him.

Both were lying to themselves : they wouldn't be able to forget their kiss so easily but at least, now they would talk to each other. If loving the other meant losing him or her, then they would keep their feelings to themselves. For nothing in the world would they risk to lose the other.

"So…what happened to not fancying elf maids?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Every time you see that elf, you start flirting with her"

"I'm not flirting!"

"Surely not" she ironically exclaimed.

"I am not flirting, you are the one being mean to her for no reason, she doesn't seem that bad!"

"For no reason?! Sorry, I think you missed the part where she captured us, robbed us of all our possessions and threw us into these cells. But I must admit you are right, she doesn't look bad at all, does she?"

"Not half as bad as Haleth back in Rivendell, mmh?"

"Oh stop it…"

Kili chuckled.

"I am trying to get her to like us so that she might free us" he tried to justify himself.

"Seriously? That's your idea of a plan?"

"It's better then nothing, at least _I_ try!"

"I hope that your rune stone is powerful…" she sighed and got a little kick in the ribs from him that made her laugh and he enjoyed the sound of that laugh as if it was the last and most beautiful thing he would ever hear in his life.

In the cell next to theirs, Fili heard despite himself his brother chuckling and the young girl laughing and couldn't repress a smile. They might be in a bad situation from which there seemed to be no chance of getting away but at least, things seemed to have settled back to normal between the two young dwarves. Or at least, _almost_ normal…


	19. Perils down the river

**Chapter XVIII : Perils down the river**

"I'll wager the sun is on the rise" Bofur's voice came from his cell, breaking the silence. "It must be nearly dawn"

"We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?"

Luna sighed at Ori's sad question. She wanted to tell him that of course, they were, but right now it seemed that he was right. They had been locked for hours already, maybe more, and there seemed to be no way to get out of there.

She looked up to meet Kili's eyes across the cell and they exchanged a sad look when suddenly, another voice piped out from outside the cells.

"No, stuck in here you're not" Bilbo whispered, appearing out of nowhere with the set of keys in his hand.

Both Luna and Kili jumped on their feet and rushed to the door of the cell to see the hobbit with their own eyes. They were imitated by all of the dwarves whose faces showed incredulity and happiness at the same time.

"Bilbo!" Balin exclaimed.

Most of the dwarves started exclaiming and congratulating the hobbit and only became quiet again when he hushed them.

"There are guards nearby!" the hobbit exclaimed in a whisper, unlocking the door behind which Thorin was locked.

The dwarf stepped out of his cell and watched Bilbo with a bewildered look on his face but the hobbit didn't lose time and immediately went to unlock the others one by one.

Luna truly realised that he was actually there, saving them, when the door of their cell opened and not able to retain herself, she pulled the hobbit in a warm embrace.

"Bilbo Baggins, you are worth a hundred guards of Erebor!" she whispered and he awkwardly hugged her back before gently pushing her away to go and free Fili.

"What was that?"

"You first!"

"Ori!"

"No! That way!"

Bilbo looked at the dwarves who were looking in every direction, trying to figure out the way out and decided to take the lead.

"Down here, follow me!" he exclaimed and started running down a flight of steps.

The company followed him in a line and they quietly made their way down into the entrails of Mirkwood until they arrived in what looked like a wine cellar where they found two guards sleeping, snoring loudly.

"This way" Bilbo whispered, carefully walking towards large empty barrels. "Come on"

"I don't believe it, we're in the cellars!" Kili exclaimed, turning angrily towards the others.

"You're supposed to be leading us out, not further in!" Bofur added.

"I know what I'm doing!"

"Hush!" Luna exclaimed and stepped forward towards the barrels, hoping that the others would follow her. She trusted Bilbo with her life and no matter what the others thought, now wasn't the time to doubt him.

Fortunately they stepped after her and shot Bilbo questioning looks.

"Everyone, climb into the barrels, quickly!"

"Are ye mad?" Dwalin angrily said, "They'll find us!"

"No, no, they won't! I promise you! Please, please, you must trust me!"

The dwarves looked at each other, not knowing what to do and Bilbo desperately sighed. From high above them, they heard a shout, their escape wasn't unknown anymore and the elves would soon arrive and find them. Dwalin opened his mouth to protest again but Luna interrupted him.

"Dwalin" she coldly said to shut him up. "Everyone into the barrels, do as he says"

Her tone surprised everyone, Bilbo mostly. She had spoken with a neutral yet implacable voice and when they turned to her, despite the fact that she was weaponless and looked smaller than ever without her usual clothes, they saw a fierce and professional captain who was leading them out of this mess.

It was barely unnecessary for Thorin to add "Do as he says" ; they had already climbed into the barrels without asking further question.

In a matter of seconds, all the dwarves were in one barrel each and Bofur's head piped out from his.

"What do we do now?" he asked and all the dwarves' heads popped out to look at Bilbo who was standing by a lever.

"Hold your breath"

"Hold my breath? What do you mean hold my…"

Bofur's phrase ended in a cry when the hobbit pushed on the lever and the ground beneath them moved downwards. Luna clung onto the sides of her barrels as they all rolled down the slope and dropped down into the water.

Luna coughed when her barrel emerged from the water and brushed her wet hair away from her face. She looked around her, they had landed in a river that was leaving Mirkwood! Bilbo soon fell into the water in his turn and clung onto her barrel, spitting out water.

"Well done, master Baggins!" Thorin exclaimed with a wide smile on his face and the hobbit waved the compliment away. "Come on!"

The dwarves hurried after him, paddling towards the entrance of the cave they had fallen in and soon, they found themselves into the open air and even fell down a little waterfall into a wider, more tumultuous river where the current was strong enough to carry them away without them having to paddle.

It wasn't going to be that easy though and Luna snapped her head back when they heard the sound of a horn signalling their flight. Looking in front of her, she saw an open gateway, only a few meters from them. She saw Thorin trying to hurry towards it before it was too late but unfortunately, the guards standing on it pulled a lever down and the metallic gates closed just as the dwarf was reaching them.

"No!" he shouted as the other barrels started to collide against his and they found their way suddenly cut down by the gates.

Luna looked up at the elf standing on the little bridge. She shot him a murderous glance, her mind racing to try and find a way to keep moving before it was too late when suddenly, an arrow came flying from the surrounding woods and hit the elf straight in the neck, killing him instantly. He fell into the water as orcs appeared from between the trees and jumped from the banks onto the bridge, killing the remaining elves.

She looked around her to see dozens of orcs coming from every direction and rushing towards their small group, huddled in their barrels against the closed gate and weaponless.

The orcs started throwing themselves at them and they tried to defend themselves as best as they could using their bare hands. With the help of Bilbo, Luna pushed away an orc who had been trying to drown her and grabbed his sword before he fell into the water. She snapped her head back when she heard an order being given in black speech, half-expecting to find Azog but her eyes landed on a very tall and evil looking orc who was pointing in her direction.

"Bolg" she gritted between her teeth, recognising from her father's long descriptions Azog's son.

She met eyes with him and he gave her an evil smirk that made her want to throw up. Her attention was suddenly drawn back to the company when she saw Kili jumping out from his barrel onto the bank.

"Kili!" she exclaimed, and without further thinking, imitated him and hauled herself onto the stones as well.

He ducked to avoid the blow of an orc then grabbed a dagger that Dwalin tossed him and slashed at his opponent who couldn't avoid it and stumbled backwards towards the river in which Luna pushed him.

"What are you doing?!" she shouted, grabbing his arm.

"The lever!" he pointed at it, no one was guarding it anymore and she nodded.

"Quickly then" she pushed him towards the bridge and turned around just on time to avoid being killed by another orc.

She more or less easily managed to push back all the enemies that came at her and tried her best to keep them from getting to Kili. She almost slipped from the bridge at some point but recovered her balance on time to slice the head off the orc who had tried to push her. She took the opportunity of a brief moment during which no enemy stood in front of her to look up and what she saw petrified her in terror.

On the bridge, Kili had almost reached the lever and further away on the bank, Bolg had seen him and had an arrow fitted to his bow, ready to shoot him.

She didn't hear herself shout his name as she launched herself towards him. Time suddenly seemed to slow down when the arrow was fired straight towards the young prince's heart.

Her shout probably caught his attention because he snapped his head back to look at her and seeing the terror in her eyes, took a step backwards and instead of hitting his heart, the arrow hit his leg.

She saw the pain in his eyes who hadn't left hers and heard his brother calling his name from the river. Kili tried to reach for the lever but wasn't able to pull it down and, his face torn with pain, fell on the stone bridge.

Luna came back to reality so suddenly that she gasped. She saw Bolg looking at Kili with a satisfied smile and felt an anger such as she had never known flow through her.

With a cry, she forced her way through the orcs to the young dwarf, cutting down any foe that stood in her way. She fell down on her knees next to him when she finally reached him and from the corner of her eye, saw Bolg ready to fire another arrow towards them.

She instinctively put herself in front of Kili and shot a deadly glance at the orc, ready to be hit by his arrow when suddenly, more elves came from everywhere and Bolg had to fight against those throwing themselves at him.

"Luna…the lever…" Kili whispered, his voice filled with pain.

She looked up and finally pulled it down. The gates opened and the dwarves were free to go down the river at least. On the banks, the orcs and the elves had started a fierce fight and in the river, the barrels containing the dwarves started moving again and they fell down another little waterfall to pursue their way into the rapids.

Luna didn't lose a second : with all her strengths, she pushed Kili towards the edge of the bridge and saw Fili who had stayed underneath it, waiting for them. She exchanged a brief, worried glance with him and was about to push the young dwarf down into his barrel when he held on to her, firmly grabbing her forearm.

"Don't" he hissed in pain.

"I'll be right there" she whispered and he nodded then she pushed him off the bridge and he fell into his barrel, the arrow snapping out of his leg.

Her own barrel seemed to have been destroyed by an orc who had crashed on it and she was about to jump into the water and just hold onto another barrel like Bilbo was doing when something suddenly caught her by the throat and lifted her up. She choked and heard the brothers shouting her name before finally being taken by the current down the waterfall.

"What will you do now, girl?" Bolg whispered in her ear.

She felt the end of his blade, cold and sharp, tracing its way from her shoulder to the centre of her back and moaned in pain as it cut through her flesh. When she felt it stop for a second on her back on the spot where he just had to push it through her skin to pierce her heart, she gathered all her strengths and swung her legs back, hitting him in the stomach so violently that he dropped her and she fell down from the bridge into the water.

She fell down the waterfall and while she briefly resurfaced, she looked back at the bridge, fearing that Bolg would have followed her but she found Tauriel and Legolas chasing him away on the banks. She had no time to mentally thank the elves for keeping him busy as she was brought back underwater by the currents that were stronger than she would have thought.

She held her breath as long as she could, fighting her way back towards the surface but every time she managed to emerge from the water, she was immediately thrown back at the bottom of the river again.

At one point, she saw that the orcs kept on chasing them, running on the banks, and that they themselves were chased by the elves. She took a glimpse of the barrels in which the dwarves were a bit further down the river. It was easy to tell that the company had no control on their rides anymore in the tumultuous waters and that all they were trying to do was to push back the orcs that were still attempting to kill them in their flight.

Then she was underwater again. She pushed as hard as she could with her feet at the bottom of the river to come back up and when she did, she thought she heard her name being called further away but the water took her again and suddenly, her head hardly hit a rock and darkness enveloped her.

* * *

><p>Kili fell down the waterfall in his barrel and when he emerged again, he turned, expecting to find Luna in the water, holding on to his barrel but he realised in horror that she wasn't there.<p>

He looked up and gasped when he saw that the huge orc that had shot him was standing on the edge of the bridge, holding the young girl by the throat over the river.

"Luna!" he yelled, trying to paddle back towards the bridge but his efforts were vain : the current was way too strong in this part of the river.

"Kili!"

His head snapped up at his brother's voice and he ducked just in time to avoid an or that jumped from the bank towards him.

He turned his head back towards the bridge and caught a glimpse of Tauriel and Legolas who had arrived and were fighting the orcs on the banks.

He held his breath when he saw Luna kicking at the orc holding her then falling into the water.

"Leave her!" he shouted at the orc when he saw that he was fitting an arrow to his bow and pointing it at the water where Luna had fell.

His shout caught Tauriel's attention and she quickly understood what was happening. The elf shot an arrow that deviated the orc's one from its trajectory then raced towards him to fight him and was quickly joined by Legolas. The two elves had the advantage over Bolg who had to run away from the bridge and leave Luna to the river.

Kili didn't have time to watch in awe the elves that had just saved the young girl though and he looked for a flash of red hair in the water.

"Luna!" he called when she resurfaced, a few meters away from him. She turned her eyes towards him but before she was able to reach for him, the currents pushed her underwater again and he lost sight of her.

"No! Luna!"

His own barrel was swiftly being carried away and he had to pay attention to the rocks and fallen trees blocking their way and also to the orcs who kept on pursuing them from the banks.

He caught a glimpse of the girl again but she was even further away from him then all at once, he didn't see her again and she didn't resurface.

"Luna!" he yelled before falling down another waterfall and landing in a part of the river where the current was so strong that the dwarves were going quicker than the elves and orcs running on the banks.

"Kili, no!" Fili shouted when he saw that his brother was about to jump out of his barrel to go and look for the young girl in the water.

The dwarf didn't listen though but just as he was about to leave his barrel, two strong hands came out of nowhere and pushed him back in it and he found himself face to face with Dwalin who had left his ride and was swimming in the rapid waters.

"Stay there" the big warrior ordered and he went himself to find Luna.

Kili watched in distress the dwarf dive into the water and for a moment that seemed to last an eternity, he feared that he might not reappear again until suddenly, he came back to the surface with the girl and swam towards his own barrel that Balin had kept next to his as hard as he could.

"Luna!"

She did not answer. The young prince watched Dwalin place her in his barrel then hauled himself into it as well then the current became so strong all the dwarves could do was hold on and pray they wouldn't drown.

* * *

><p>When the river finally became calm again, the company had been pushed so far away by the current that they had lost the orcs and the elves and that they had arrived at the point where the river threw itself into a huge lake.<p>

"Anything behind us?" Thorin asked.

"Not that I can see" Balin replied, looking behind his shoulder.

"I think we've outrun the orcs" Bofur said.

"Not for long, we've lost the current…make for the shore!" Thorin ordered and they all started paddling towards the closest bank. "Come on, let's go!"

The dwarves slowly crawled out of their barrels onto the rocky shore and some of the dwarves collapsed in exhaustion. They were wet to the bone and had nothing with them : no food, no weapons and barely enough clothes to cover themselves.

Kili hauled himself onto dry land with Fili's help and, ignoring the pain that made his whole leg burn, he raced to Dwalin who had also reached the shore and was holding the limpness body of Luna in his arms.

"On your feet!" Thorin snapped.

"Kili and Luna are wounded" Fili darkly replied, shooting his uncle a bad look.

"There's an orc pack on our trail, we keep moving"

"To where?" Balin sighed.

"To the mountain, we are so close!" Bilbo exclaimed.

"A lake lies between us and that mountain, we have no way to cross it"

"So then we go round"

"The orcs will run us down, as sure as daylight. And we have no weapon to defend ourselves…plus, our captain is not responding"

They all turned towards the young girl that he had laid down on the ground. Kili crawled next to her and took her hand in his. Her face was pale, her lips slightly turning blue and a trail of blood was running down from her temple where she had hit a rock.

"Oh no…" he muttered, cupping her face. "Please wake up"

Oïn leaned on her to check her pulse then hurriedly pushed the dwarves who were coming closer away.

"She needs air!" he hissed.

He then professionally put both hands on her chest and started pressing down in quick, repeated movements and fortunately, in only a couple of seconds, the young girl coughed water out of her lungs, rolling on her side and opened her eyes to everyone's relief.

"Mahal…" Kili sighed, bringing her hand up to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

"Are you alright, lass?" Oïn asked, helping her in a sitting position and she nodded, rubbing her head.

The dwarves moved away and Thorin deeply sighted. He looked down at Luna, sitting on the ground with Kili who wouldn't let go of her hand. She still looked a bit stoned, Kili's leg was bleeding and a bit further, Dwalin was still trying to catch his breath from his perilous swim in the river. But what he couldn't help but notice most of everything was the way his nephew looked at her and sticked to her side.

"Are you aware of how unconscious you are?" he barked at the young girl, feeling a strange anger boiling inside him.

She looked up at him in surprise just as all the others did.

"You almost got yourself killed! Kili got shot and Dwalin almost drowned trying to save you!" he went on.

"Thorin…" Balin started but a look from the dwarf silenced him.

"I was just trying to do my job" the young girl tried to defend herself, not understanding at all what was happening. She had a frown on her face. Her head was still spinning from the hit she had gotten but she wouldn't let Thorin talk to her like that, it was not in her temper.

"Well do it better then! I won't risk the lives of my warriors for you!"

"Uncle, stop it" Fili dryly said but Thorin paid no attention to him.

"Dwalin didn't ask your permission to go and take me out of the water if I am not wrong and I doubt he would have listened to your interdiction" she spat.

Kili almost wanted to push the young girl behind him to shelter her from his uncle's glance. He had often got the dwarf angry at him when he was younger but never had he been confronted to such a deadly glance as the one he was giving Luna right now.

"I told you already, do not speak to me like that" he growled in a low, threatening voice. "Learn to stay in your place"

Luna opened her mouth to protest once again but a warning look from Kili restrained her from doing so.

"Bind his leg, quickly. You have two minutes" Thorin snapped at Fili then walked away.

The dwarves nervously looked at each other, not understanding what had just happened.

"What is wrong with him?" Luna asked when Fili kneeled in front of them to bind Kili's leg with a stripe of his own shirt. She even wondered if the hit she had gotten on her head wasn't making her delirious.

"Let him be, it's just his way of relieving his worry" the blonde dwarf tried to reassure her with a little smile.

It didn't seem to work though but she didn't add anything. Fili bit his lip, it was true that anger was probably a way for Thorin to express the worry he had just had but there was something else that caused him to be so harsh towards the young girl…like everyone else in the company, he could tell that something was going on between her and his younger nephew. Fili had hoped he would be happy about it or, at least, not pay attention to it but it looked like his uncle wasn't too much happy about whatever was happening between the two young dwarves.

A bit further, Ori was emptying his boots of the water that had gotten into them when suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. He looked up in fear to find a tall figure standing above him on a rock, bow in hand and ready to shoot him.

Dwalin stepped in front of him, holding a branch before him to stop the arrow that flew towards them.

Kili instinctively picked up a little rock and raised it above his head to throw it at the bowman but he was too quick and another arrow knocked the rock out of his hand.

"Do that again" the man hissed, "and you're dead"

They all gazed at him, not sure of what to do until from the corner of his eye, Balin saw a boat tied on to a rock a bit further behind the man.

"Excuse me but…you're from Laketown, if I'm not mistaking" he said, carefully taking a few steps towards the man who turned his bow towards him. "That barge over there…it wouldn't be available for hire, by any chance?"


	20. The bowman

**Chapter XIX : The bowman**

"What makes you think I will help you?"

The dwarves were carefully watching the man as he was loading the empty barrels onto his little boat.

"Those boots have seen better days, as has that coat" Balin said with a little smile "And no doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed. How many bairns?"

"A boy and two girls" the bowman sighed.

Luna was leaning with Kili against a rock while Fili was standing besides his brother. She was witnessing the bargaining attempt between Balin and the archer and trying to focus her vision that was at times blurry because of her injury.

"And your wife I imagine she is a beauty" the old dwarf went on with a little wink.

"Aye…she was"

Balin's smile faded and he looked down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Oh, come on, come on, enough of the niceties" Dwalin growled, turning to the man.

"What's your hurry?" the last asked, looking up at the strong dwarf warrior who looked impressive even without all his furs and weapons.

"What is it to you?"

"I would like to know who you are, what you are doing in these lands"

"We are simple merchants from the blue mountains, journeying to see our kin in the Iron Hills" Balin explained, his smile returning to his face. "This young lady over here is my niece and the lad next to her is her fiancé. They are to be married in a fortnight in the Iron Hills where our family lives"

The man's eyes turned to the two young dwarves who both furiously blushed. Was Balin seriously starting again with this story of their engagement? At the same time, she knew it was the best possible excuse to justify the presence of a young girl such as her in a company of dwarves, without revealing who they were and what they were planning to do.

None of the dwarves knew what had actually happened between Kili and her, besides Fili maybe, and some couldn't subdue big smiles from their faces and all nodded in approbation. Only Thorin shot the pair a quizzical look when his nephew gently took Luna's hand in his and Fili said nothing.

"Well congratulations then, you boy are lucky, but you should take better care of her" the man ironically said, raising an eyebrow.

It was Goblin Town all over again and Luna hated it.

"Watch your tongue, bowman, else you will learn the hard way that I don't need anyone to look after me" she spat.

He narrowed his eyes, surprised that such a thin looking girl was answering him like that. Thorin shot a dark look at Luna and raised a hand to silence her then turned himself towards the man.

"We need food, supplies, weapons. Can you help us?" he asked.

The archer paused for a moment and rubbed his thumb on one of the barrels where an arrow had damaged the wood.

"I know where these barrels came from" he said.

"What of it?"

"I don't know what business you had with the elves but I don't think it ended well"

He went back to loading the barrels onto his boat and went on : "No one enters Laketown without leave of the Master. All his wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He would see you in irons before risking the wrath of king Thranduil"

Balin turned to Thorin, looking as if he was out of ideas.

"Offer more" the dwarf king whispered.

"I'll wager there are ways to enter that town unseen" the old dwarf added.

"Aye…but for that, you need a smuggler"

"For which we would pay…double"

* * *

><p>"For your fiancee" Bard sarcastically said, passing a spare coat to Kili for Luna.<p>

Kili just shot him a bad look but Luna elbowed him.

"Thank you" she said.

She was actually very grateful for that coat. Not only was she starting to get cold in her drenched shirt but she was also starting to feel indecent barely dressed amongst all those men. It was probably one of the bowman's old spare ones which meant it was ten times too big for her but it was far better than nothing.

"I don't think he believed Balin's story" Kili said, sitting next to her. "We definitely don't look like a happy couple"

Weeks, maybe even months ago, that would have made her laugh. All it did now was to make her blush and she tried to hide her face behind her hair.

"I think the goblin king did believe us" she said, shrugging her shoulders, "he just didn't care"

"It surprised me that Balin tried once again"

"I think he was running out of ideas…and to be honest, how else would you justify my presence in the company without revealing that I am supposed to be the captain of Erebor?"

"What do you mean _supposed to be_?" he raised an eyebrow.

She waved the remark off, she didn't want to talk about it now. Their crossing the lake was going very peacefully so far and she wanted nothing more than to take advantage of the calm surrounding them to rest. Thinking about Thorin and how he had acted would not help.

Kili was about to say something when his uncle suddenly called him from the other side of the boat and gestured for him to go to him. He sighed, he didn't really want to listen to what Thorin had to say right now and would much rather stay with Luna but the young girl gently pushed him up.

"Go" she whispered.

He nodded and pulled himself up, wincing at the pain in his leg but giving Luna a reassuring nod when she looked at him with worry in her eyes.

He walked to where his uncle was standing, a bit apart from the others and tried his best to walk normally and not let anything show of the pain that was burning in his whole leg.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We need to talk" his uncle coldly replied.

"About what?"

"About Luna" Thorin seemed a bit awkward but hid his uneasiness behind his usual implacable mask.

"What about her?"

"You know what I want to talk about. Your relationship with her seems to have…changed over the past few weeks. Care to explain yourself?"

"That's nonsense" Kili mumbled but as he made a move to go away, his uncle caught his arm, not hardly but quite firmly.

"I am not done, Kili. I have seen how you act around her, everyone in this company has seen it"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"Let me go"

"Are you…in love with her?" the words sounded strange in his mouth to both of them.

"That is none of your business, and even if it was, why would you care?"

"You are a prince of Erebor, Kili, and she is the captain. Nothing more than friendship will ever be possible between the two of you"

"Why not? Why couldn't there be more?"

"Her role is to risk her life to protect you and could even be to sacrifice her life for yours. If you were to love her, would you let her do?"

The young dwarf didn't answer and Thorin sighed.

"You can not put yourself between her and her faith. You are the one who must live and she is the one who must make sure you do at any cost"

He sadly sighed when Kili said nothing. His nephew loved Luna, if he had still had doubts about it at the beginning of the conversation, he was now certain of it. He put a hand on his shoulder.

"Someday, when we will have Erebor back and that everything will be settled, you will find yourself a fine princess that will undoubtedly suit you"

He felt Kili tense up at this and his nephew shot him a dark look.

"Tell me, uncle…are you more worried about the fact that something might happen to Luna or the fact that she is not royalty?" he icily asked.

Thorin's hand left his shoulder. Never had he heard Kili speak in such a tone. The young dwarf was usually cheerful and always tried to avoid confrontation so hearing his voice so cold and angry left him bewildered.

"Do not speak to me of her again" the young prince added. "Not if it is in such terms"

And without giving his uncle the time to say anything more, he turned his heels and walked back to the spot where he had left Luna a few moments ago.

Thorin's attempts at trying to convince him he shouldn't love the young girl had resulted in exactly the opposite. He realised now, as he looked at her, that despite the fact that he was hiding it, he had fallen madly in love with her. He hadn't dared to admit it until now but he knew why he had felt so despaired and so miserable during the time they had not talked to each other after what happened at Beorn's house. He was connected to her, he needed her with him everyday and fearing that she might despise him was the most horrible thing that had ever happened to him. It was even more than love that he felt for the young girl, he was forced to admit it now for he could feel it, despite all his denying. She was his One.

It was well known that dwarves all had a One, a person that was their soul mate and that was matched to them in every possible way. Very few were those lucky enough to find theirs and what that happened they were considered either the happiest or the most miserable beings in the universe ; happiest if their One loved them back, most miserable if it wasn't the case and then they were condemned to spend the rest of their lives never able to love another person and watching their One be happy with someone else.

Was Kili Luna's One? He had no idea, and he doubted he would be that lucky. She was _his_ One, however, he was certain of that. He could feel his connection to her stronger than he had ever felt anything but he wouldn't say a word of this to her, not anymore, else he might lose her forever and he'd rather die than live without her, even if it was just as friends.

* * *

><p>The fog on the lake was so dense that the dwarves only saw the huge rock formations standing tall in the water seconds before almost crashing onto them.<p>

"Watch out!" Bofur cried out but the bowman was very at ease with his boat and he expertly lead it between the huge rocks.

"What are you trying to do? Drown us?" Thorin growled.

"I was born and bred on these waters, master dwarf. If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here" the man calmly replied.

"Oh, I've had enough of this lumpy lake man. I say we throw him over the side and be done with it" Dwalin muttered.

"Mmh, Bard, his name is Bard" Bilbo irritably said.

"How do you know?"

"Ahem, I asked him?"

"I don't care what he calls himself, I don't like him" Dwalin insisted.

"We don't have to like him, we simply have to pay him" Balin said, sitting a bit further, carefully counting coins. "Come on now, lads. Turn out your pockets"

"How do we know he won't betray us?" Dwalin whispered to Thorin.

"We don't" the last answered in the same low tone.

"There's a…there's a little problem" Balin announced, recounting the coins. "We're ten coins short"

Thorin folded his arms.

"Gloin" he said, "Come on, give us what you have"

"Don't look to me!" the big dwarf exclaimed. "I have been bled dry by this adventure! What have I seen for my investment? Naught but misery and grief!"

He stopped talking when he saw the others around him slowly getting to their feet and staring at something before them. When he saw what it was, he stood up as well and dropped his jaw in awe.

Despite his injury, Kili stood up as well and even Luna got to her feet and suddenly fell small and in full admiration in front of the looming shape of the lonely mountain, proudly standing before them on the opposite shore of the lake.

"Bless my beard" Gloin muttered beneath his breath then held out his purse to Balin. "Take it, take all of it"

Bilbo was the only one to turn his head towards Bard and he cleared his throat when the bowman walked towards them.

"The money, quick. Give it to me" he hurried them.

"We will pay you when we get our provisions and not before" Thorin replied.

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead"

They snapped their heads in the direction he pointed at and saw that they were approaching the first signs of Laketown.

* * *

><p>Bard's idea had not pleased the dwarves from the start ; getting back into the barrels was everything but pleasing so when fishes started dropping down on them to fill each of the barrels, curses both in Khûzdul and in the common tongue were heard from every barrel.<p>

"Quiet" the man snapped, kicking at the barrel closest to him with his foot. "We're approaching the toll gate"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Luna asked, sitting besides him on the boat.

They had been one barrel short and there wasn't enough room for two people in one so it had been decided that Luna would stay with Bard who would pretend he had found her wounded on the shores of the lake and hadn't been able to let her alone at the mercy of orcs and animals.

It would be easier to convince people that such a tale was true with her than with any of the others plus from the whole company, she was the one who looked the least like a dwarf and hopefully, she could be mistaken for a very petite and defenceless human. Also, dry blood was still covering her temple from the hit she had gotten in the river and she looked exhausted and cold, if they were lucky enough she would pass for a child who had lost herself.

"Just stick to your role and let me do the talking" Bard shrugged his shoulders.

She wrapped Bard's coat tighter around her and watched Laketown that had appeared from the fog before them, with its many wooden houses and little bridges.

"Halt! Goods inspection!" a man cried out as the boat had reached the entrance of the town. "Make haste please!"

Bard manoeuvred the boat so it would come to an halt near the dock on which the man was standing and the last seemed to recognise him at last. "Oh, it's you Bard"

"Morning, Percy"

"Anything to declare?"

"Nothing, but that I am cold and tired…and ready for home" Bad sighed, stepping out of the boat and handing out a piece of parchment to the man.

Luna tried to make herself look as small as possible. The man's eyes landed on her.

"Who is that?" he asked.

"Just a child that I found, she was lost and hurt, I couldn't let her wander alone"

"That's very much like you to care for those in need" Percy said with a soft smile, apposing a stamp on Bard's papers. "There we are, all in order"

"Not so fast" came the displeasing voice of another man behind him. He was the ugliest person Luna had ever seen and looked despicable as he took the papers from Percy's hand. "Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm" he read then turned to Bard who had tensed.

"Only, they're not empty" he added, walking towards the boat and throwing the papers aside. "Are they, Bard? If I recall correctly, you're licensed as a bargeman, not a fisherman. Plus, who is that child that you bring with you? Doesn't this town have enough mouths to feed yet?"

"That's none of your business" Bard dryly replied.

"Well, it's the master's business, which makes it my business"

"Oh, come on, Alfred, have a heart. People need to eat! I found this girl hurt and alone, she needed care"

"These fish are illegal! Empty the barrels over the side and bring the child to me" he ordered the guards following him.

"You heard him? In the canal" one of the guards added and they stepped past Bard into the barge to execute the order.

Luna made a move to intervene but a look from Bard had her remain where she was.

"Folk in this town are struggling. Times are hard, food is scarce!" Bard insisted.

"That's not my problem"

"And when people will hear that the master is dumping fish back in the lake? When the rioting starts? Will it be your problem then?"

Alfred's face showed all his hatred for Bard but he raised his hand to stop the guards.

"Stop" he exclaimed and to Luna's relief, the guards put the barrels back in their places but the one who had grabbed her didn't let go of her arm.

"Leave the girl alone, I will care for her" Bard snapped at the guard who, after a nod from Alfred, let go of Luna.

"Ever the people' champion, are you Bard? Protector of the common folk. You might have their favour now bargeman but it won't last. This child won't be fed or protected by the master, she is your problem" Alfred spat before angrily walking away.

"Raise the gate!" Percy shouted.

"The master has his eye on you, you'll do well to remember" Alfred warned Bard as he was back on the boat and manoeuvring it through the gate. "We know where you live"

"It's a small town, Alfred" Bard replied. "Everyone knows where everyone lives"

Luna looked at the hateful face of the master's counsellor until it was out of sight then watched the town and couldn't help thinking that it was quite gloomy and that life here really didn't seem easy.

Bard finally stopped the barge near a dock and started pushing the barrels aside so that the dwarves could get out. Luna hurried to help the dwarves on their feet, especially Kili whose wince of pain didn't go unnoticed.

"Take your hands off me" Dwalin growled when Bard tried to help him.

The bargeman then put a few coins in the hand of a man who had been watching them in awe.

"You never saw them, they were never here" he whispered to him. "They fish, you can have for nothing"

"Follow me" he hurried the dwarves and they went after him in a line until a young boy ran to them at a corner. Luna could tell at once that he was Bard's son, he looked too much like him to leave any doubt in her mind and the way the bargeman looked fondly at him as soon as he saw him confirmed it.

"Da!" he exclaimed, concern clear in his voice. "Our house, it's being watched!"

* * *

><p>"They are so not going to like this" Luna bit her lip.<p>

With the house being watched, they couldn't let the dwarves come in by the front door and Bard had had an idea which hadn't pleased them at all but which was the only plausible one.

"There's no other way" Bard whispered as he was leading the young girl and his son towards his house. "There we are"

He opened the door of a small wooden house and she stepped in, preceded by Bain, his son. Just before entering in his turn, Bard turned to the river where two men seemed to be peacefully fishing and he threw an apple at one of them.

"You can tell the master I'm done for the day" he said then entered and closed the door behind him.

"Da! Where have you been?" a little girl asked inside the house when she saw her father and she ran to hug him.

"Father, there you are! I was worried!" another one, older, hugged him as well.

"Who is that?" the little one asked when she saw Luna then her eyes widened in surprise when the young girl took Bard's coat off her shoulders and that she realised that she wasn't a little girl her age like she had thought but a young dwarf woman.

"I'm Luna, at your service" she said, slightly bowing.

"These are my daughters, Sigrid and Tilda" Bard introduced absentmindedly, checking out the window for spies. "Bain, get them in" he whispered when he was sure that no unfriendly eyes were watching.

His son ran downstairs to let the dwarves come up from the toilets underneath which they had been hiding and Luna watched them half amused and half worried walk up the stairs and come inside.

"Da…why are there dwarves coming out of our toilet?" Sigrid asked, obviously worried.

"Will they bring us luck?" Tilda added, more cheerful.

Luna bit her lip when she heard her. She had a feeling that from all the things they would bring upon the little family, luck wouldn't be one of them.


	21. Laketown

_**I can't believe this is already the 20th chapter and that we are soon reaching the end of the Desolation of Smaug already! I couldn't think of a better title for this chapter unfortunately but I hope you will still enjoy it. As always, thanks for favouriting/following and let me know why you think!**_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter XX : Laketown<strong>

"They may not be the best fit, but they'll keep you warm" Bard said while little Tilda was handing out dry clothes to the dwarves who were trying to warm themselves up by the fire.

"Thank you" Bilbo whispered when the little girl gave him a coat. He was shivering, with the winter approaching, it was getting colder everyday in these parts. Durin's day would very soon be upon them.

Luna came back at that moment with Sigrid from another room where she had gone to get changed in intimacy. She had been given one of Tilda's dresses which were the only clothes in the house that might fit her, Sigird's being too big for her. It might be a child's dress and not very fancy either but she had arranged it in such a way that it looked quite good on her and she had cut the edges so that it would come up to her knees which would be more practical in case she needed to fight. Of course, she had kept her pants and boots underneath it.

Sigrid gave her a shawl to wrap around her shoulders and she buckled her belt around her waist then went to sit next to Fili and Kili after thanking Bard's daughter.

"Look at you, you almost look like a girl now" Fili teased her. "Don't you think, brother?"

Kili shrugged his shoulders without even turning his glance towards them. His leg was hurting so badly now that he could barely put his weight on it without feeling a burning pain running all along it. Fili's smile disappeared from his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked, now really worried.

"I'm fine" Kili replied a bit too harshly to convince him.

"Kili, if you're hurt…" Luna started.

"I'm okay, just let me be"

Fili and the young girl exchanged a look full of concern but didn't insist. Hopefully, the young dwarf was just tired.

She looked around the room at the dwarves sitting here and there and her glance landed on Dwalin towards which she walked.

"Dwalin…thank you for saving me in the river" she humbly said.

He shook his head. "Guards and captains look after each other, right?"

"Yes, but thanks anyway" she returned his smile.

"Ye know lass…ye shouldn't pay too much attention to what Thorin said" he then added in a lower tone by fear of being heard.

"No, he was right. I didn't do a great job back there, on the bridge. If I had been more careful, I could have kept Kili from being hurt and you wouldn't have had to risk your life to save me"

"If ye hadn't been there, lass, he would have gotten that arrow straight in his heart. Actually, if ye hadn't been there, we wouldn't even have passed Rivendell, no doubt. As for the risking my life, it is my duty as much as yours, for this we're in the same boat and I'm proud to be in it with you"

"Thank you" she whispered with a little smile. "My father was always right about you, you're the greatest guard a captain could wish for"

At that moment, they heard Thorin mutter something at the window through which he had been gazing and obviously seeing something, "A dwarfish wind-lance"

"You look like you've seen a ghost" Bilbo remarked.

"He has" Balin softly said, "The last time we saw such a weapon, a city was on fire. It was the day the dragon came, the day that Smaug destroyed Dale. Girion, the lord of the city, rallied his bowmen to fire upon the beast…but a dragon's hide is tough, tougher than the strongest armour. Only a black arrow, fired from a wind lance could have pierced the dragon's hide and few of those arrows were ever made. The stow was running low when Girion made his last stand"

"Had the aim of men had been true that day, much would have been different" Thorin whispered.

"You speak as if you were there" Bard raised an eyebrow.

"All dwarves know the tale" Luna intervened. Her youth would hopefully convince the bargeman that it was true, she could not have been there on that dreadful day, or at least not have been old enough to remember.

"Then you would know that Girion hit the dragon" Bain said quite dryly, "He loosened a scale under the left wing. One more shot and he would have killed the beast"

"That's a fairy story, lad" Dwalin chuckled, "Nothing more"

Thorin stepped forwards and shot Bard a sharp look.

"You took our money" he changed the subject, "Where are our weapons?"

"Wait here" the man replied after a short pause then walked away.

As soon as he was out of the room, Thorin gestured for his nephews and Luna to come near him and Balin.

"Tomorrow begins the last days of autumn" he whispered to them.

"Durin's day falls the morning after next" Balin nodded. "We must reach the mountain before then"

"But if we do not? If we fail to find the hidden door before that time?" Kili asked, his voice full of an usual worry that aggravated Luna's concern for him.

"Then this quest has been for nothing" Fili muttered under his breath.

"We _will_ find the door" Luna cut them in a determined tone. "We did not come all this way to miss it just like that"

Thorin seemed about to say something but footsteps were heard and Bard came back in the room, carrying a long parcel that he put down on the table.

The dwarves gathered around around him while he was unwrapping it and when they discovered the hammers, iron bars and other tools laid down on the table, most of them expressed their disappointment by all sorts of grunts and exclamations.

"What is this?" Thorin growled, taking hold of a tool.

"A pike hook" Bard answered, "Made from an old harpoon"

"And this?" Kili asked with a frown.

"A crow bill we call it, made from a smithy's hammer. It's heavy in hand, I grant you but in defence of your life, these will serve you better than none"

"We paid you for weapons" Gloin argued. "Iron-forged swords and axes!"

"It's a joke!" Bofur exclaimed, throwing the tool he had picked up back on the table and all imitated him.

"You won't find better weapons outside the city armoury" Bard raised his voice "All iron-forged weapons are held there and locked in key"

"Thorin" Balin took him apart when he saw the frown on his face and Bard's eyes flashed to them, "why not take the offer and go? I've made do with less, so have you. I say we leave now"

"You're not going anywhere" Bard darkly scolded.

"What did you say?" Dwalin hissed.

"There's spies watching this house and probably every dock and wharf in the town. You must wait till nightfall"

All the dwarves were angry but there was nothing they could do for now. Time was too precious to them with Durin's day being so close and they couldn't risk to lose any by acting too hastily.

Bard discreetly slipped out of the house and leaned against a wooden fence.

"Thorin" he whispered to himself. He had heard this name for the first time just now, when the old dwarf had said it, or at least it had rung a bell in his head for the first time ever since his encounter with the dwarves.

He had heard that name before, he was certain of it but where? Unconsciously, his eyes turned towards the distant shape of the lonely mountain, standing tall and imposing in the distance. He had noticed, back on the boat, how the company had all stared at it in admiration, their faces filled with a strange mix of emotions but he hadn't really paid attention to it then : they were dwarves after all, Erebor had been a dwarfish kingdom, it was their people's History they had been contemplating them. What he had not doubted though was that they might have been linked much closer to that History that he had thought.

"Da?" came Bain's voice from the door.

"Don"t let them leave" he whispered to his son before running down the stairs and into the narrow streets of Laketown. Those dwarves in his house were connected to the mountain, there was no doubt about it but he had to know how exactly.

* * *

><p>"Kili"<p>

The young dwarf startled and looked up to find Luna standing just in front of him, glaring at him. He had quietly slipped into a corner of the room and sat on a little bench to take a look at his injury which was growing more painful every hour, and he hadn't even noticed the girl coming towards him.

He did his best to smile but it only resulted in a wince of pain.

"Let me have a look"

"No, it's fine" he hurriedly said in a whisper so that the others wouldn't hear them but thankfully, Thorin was talking in hushed tones with Dwalin in the opposite corner of the room and they seemed too busy with their own conversation to sneak a look in their direction.

She did not listen to him though and reached for his bandage but he caught her hands.

"Luna, please…"

"If you don't let me do it, then Thorin will as soon as I tell him"

He paused for a moment and looked up to meet her eyes in which he drowned once again. He really had an issue with Luna's eyes, he couldn't look at them without immediately losing himself in them and it usually took all his will and strengths to turn his own glance away. Every time it happened, he felt like he was peacefully lying on soft grass by a nice summer night, staring at the sky with all the stars filling its deep blue depth.

"Kili" her voice called him back to reality and he blinked several times then let go of her hands and gave a deep sigh.

She carefully unmade the bandage and the concern on her face grew stronger when she saw that the wound wasn't healing as it should.

"It should at least have stopped bleeding by now" she whispered.

"It's alright, I think it's just me who reopened it by a bad move" he tried. She did not look convinced but didn't say anything.

She went to fetch a bowl of water and a clean cloth then proceeded to clean the wound as best as she could.

"Sorry" she said when he winced in pain and she finished by wrapping a new bandage around his leg.

"Thanks" he mumbled.

She sighed and, kneeling in front of him, took his hands and locked eyes with him again.

"Promise me that if it is not better by tomorrow at dawn, you'll tell me" she whispered.

He paused for a short instant, fighting against himself to not fall for her glance again but it was harder than ever when she was giving him such a caring and worried look and that she was holding his hands in hers. He wished at that very moment that they were alone so that he could pull her close against him and know that everything would be alright as long as they were together.

But it couldn't be, if he even dared to do so, she would probably push him back with disgust like she had done when he had kissed her and he was not sure that he could stand it a second time, especially not now that he knew she was his One.

Before he even realised it, he found himself wandering if dwarves could die of a broken heart and thought to himself that maybe knowing his One couldn't love him back was the reason why his injury wasn't healing and slowly draining all his strengths.

"Kili?" she insisted.

"I promise" he vaguely said and that looked to suffice her for now.

She suddenly dropped his hands and stood up when Thorin's voice harshly called them from the other side of the room.

"Kili, Luna, we're leaving. To the armoury"

* * *

><p>All Luna could think of as they were discreetly making their way through the streets of Laketown to the armoury was that it definitely wasn't a good idea. Like Balin had said, they should have just taken the weapons Bard had given them and be gone but Thorin didn't share that opinion.<p>

As soon as night had fallen, they had pushed their way past Bain who had bravely tried to stop them and sneaked out of the house and here they were now : hiding around a corner.

"As soon as we get the weapons, we'll make straight for the mountain" Thorin whispered then checked around him to make sure that they weren't being watched. "Go, go, go!"

The dwarves were getting inside the armoury by a window located at the upper level that they reached by stepping on the backs of the strongest of the company that had formed a pyramid.

"Next!" Thorin pushed Bilbo in front of him.

Luna stepped forward in her turn, ready to go but the dwarf held her back.

"You stay there" he said before going in his turn, not leaving her time to protest. Kili was already inside the armoury and he didn't want her to go and distract him.

Luna watched the dwarf disappear through the window with a dark look on her face and Fili, next to her, squeezed her shoulder.

Inside the armoury, the dwarves and Bilbo were taking as many weapons as they could find. Kili passed from one to another and they all piled up axes, swords and others in his arms.

"You're alright?" Thorin whispered to his nephew when he came next to him, noticing how pale his face was.

"I can manage" the young dwarf mumbled, "Let's just get out of here"

He made for the stairs and walked down a few steps when suddenly, the pain from his injury proved too strong for him and his legs gave out beneath him. He fell down a few steps and couldn't avoid grunting in pain but the worst was the loud clattering noise the blades he had been carrying made when they crashed down the stairs.

The dwarves who had stayed outside heard it too and looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds then they all turned their eyes towards Luna, as if expecting her to give some orders and tell them what to do.

"Run" she muttered but they didn't get the chance to go very far : guards were already coming from every direction and they were soon circled with spears pointed right at them while inside the armoury, the dwarves stood motionless as blades were positioned against their throats.

* * *

><p>The dwarves' grunts and protestations while they were being pushed towards the master's house were enough to wake the whole town and soon, it looked like every inhabitant had left their house to come and find out what was going on.<p>

They were pushed into a semi-circle facing the house with guards standing behind each and every of them while the people where crowding in front of the big house.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the master angrily hissed, hastily stepping out of his door. He obviously didn't appreciate being disturbed at such a late hour.

"We caught them stealing weapons, sire" a guard answered

"Ah, enemies of the state, heh?"

"It's just a bunch of mercenaries if ever there was, sire" Alfred piped in, standing besides the master.

"Watch your tongue" suddenly came Dwalin's low growl, "you do not know to whom you speak. This is no common criminal, this is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror"

Thorin put a hand on Dwalin's shoulder and stepped forward.

"We are the dwarves of Erebor. We have come to reclaim our homeland" he declared then looked around him at the crowd. "I remember this town in the great days of old, fleets of boats laid at harbour, filled with silks and fine gems. It was no forsaken town on a lake! This was the centre of all trade in the North!"

Despite the situation, Luna had to admire the way he had gotten the men of lake town to look at him in amazement and respect with only a few words.

"I will see those days return!" he continued, "We'll relight the great forges of the dwarves and send wealth and riches flowing once more from the halls of Erebor!" and everyone cheered.

"Death!" suddenly came a voice and they all turned to see Bard making his way through the crowds and guards until he was standing in front of Thorin. "That's what you will bring upon us! Dragon fire and ruin. If you awaken that beast, it will destroy us all"

"You can listen to this naysayer but I promise you this : if we succeed, all will share in the wealth of the mountain" Thorin faced the inhabitants of the town once again. "You will have enough gold to rebuild Esgaroth ten times over!"

"All of you, listen to me! You must listen!" Bard's voice could hardly manage to cover the loud cheers of his people. "Have you forgotten what happened to Dale? Have you forgotten those who died in the firestorm?! And for what purpose? The blind ambition of a mountain king, so driven by greed he could not see beyond his own desire!"

This time, the men were arguing about the veracity of these facts. Some were obviously frightened by the idea of the dragon while others didn't seem to believe it.

"Enough, enough! We must not, any of us, be too quick to lay blame!" the master finally intervened. "Let us not forget that it was Girion, lord of Dale, your ancestor, who failed to kill the beast" he added, pointing a finger towards Bard. The dwarves turned in surprise towards the man…so that's why his son Bain had seemed to be so well-acquainted with Girion's story.

"It is true, sire. We all know the story. Arrow after arrow he shot, each one missing its mark" Alfrid said, enjoying the discomposure on Bard's face.

The bowman looked around him, obviously none of the inhabitants were ready to listen to him anymore. He locked eyes with Thorin and stepped towards him.

"You have no right" he whispered, "No right to enter that mountain"

"I have the only right" Thorin replied in the same low tone before turning towards the master again. "I speak to the master of the men of the lake. Will you see the prophecy fulfilled? Will you share in the great wealth of our people? What say you?"

"I say onto you…welcome! Welcome, king under the mountain!"

All cheered, including the dwarves, except for Luna who had spent the whole time carefully detailing Bard's face. He now seemed despaired and quickly turned his heels to walk away. She bit her lip, of course she should be happy about this alliance with the master of the town which meant they would get weapons, supplies and a safe way to cross the lake to the mountain, but something inside her was tickling her and she could hear a little voice inside her head telling her that Bard was right. He had been nice and helpful to them even though he had almost no reason of doing so…and they were about to thank him by unleashing a dragon on his home and family.

* * *

><p>Drunk men disgustingly staring at every woman their eyes would land on, that's all Luna could see around her at the party that had been given in their honour in the town hall. For such an improvised event, she had been surprised to see how quickly everything had been set up for the night. Dozens of enormous barrels had been brought inside the big room, food had been served, music was being played and the whole town seemed to have come.<p>

The party had now been going for a few hours and it was getting very late. The young girl sighed when she saw that most of the dwarves had drunk a bit too much. She wormed her way through the crowd to get to Thorin who she caught a glimpse of a bit further when a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder and drew her back.

"What do we have here? Such a tiny little woman, look at that" a man laughed. He stank of bah alcohol.

"Leave me alone" she said in a neutral yet firm voice.

"Heh, I know her…that's the child Bard brought with him yesterday, she was in the boat, I saw her!" another one exclaimed, almost losing his balance as he was pointing in her direction as if she was standing meters away from him.

"She's no child, she's a dwarf. A dwarf-woman" a third one rolled his eyes. "Didn't you see her with the others?"

"Aye, a pretty dwarf-woman" the first man smirked at her in a way that made her want to throw up. She tried to free herself from his grip but he caught her wrist, this time more violently. "No, don't leave us, we can have fun together, pretty thing"

"Let me go" she gritted between her teeth.

"Come on, love. It's not as if you weren't used to this, if you do it with dwarves, you can do it with men, we are not so different"

She froze at this. "What did you say?" she whispered. They were too drunk to take note of her icy tone and just laughed.

"Don't be shy, we aren't stupid, we know why a whole group of dwarves would want such a pretty thing as you to accompany them" the first man said in a tone of confidence.

"You keep them warm at night, don't you?" the third one smirked while the second one was even too drunk to say anything and instead just sat there smiling like an idiot.

Luna had already grabbed a dagger from her belt was she raised her arm to hit the man who was still holding her when someone else suddenly caught her arm to stop her move. Snapping her head around, she found Bard who shot her a warning glance before turning towards the three men.

"Ah, Bard, you want a taste of the lady as well, don't you?" the first one exclaimed but before he could even finish his sentence, the bowman had a blade pressed against his throat.

"Let her go" he muttered and so did the man, too frightened and drunk to answer the threat otherwise.

"Do as much as set your eyes on me again, filth, and I will rip you apart" Luna spat before Bard pulled her away.

He lead her through the crowd and out of the town hall where the coolness of the night made her shiver but at least, she was happy to be finally out of that room.

"Where you seriously planning on killing him like that in the middle of the party?" Bard eyed her warily.

"He basically called me a whore"

"I know. But that wouldn't have made things easier for you king, would it?"

She shrugged her shoulders. At that moment, she hadn't really cared about Thorin, another proof that she was definitely not suited for the role of captain. She should always think of her king's interests first.

"Why would you come and help me anyway?" she asked.

"I may not like what you plan to do but who would I be to leave you at the mercy of those three drunkards?"

"I don't need protection"

"No, but you need to be stopped from causing diplomatic catastrophes and regarding your job, I hope that kind of things don't happen too often"

"What are you talking about?"

"Please, can I stop pretending I don't know who you are now? I overhead the others referring to you as their captain even before I found out I had smuggled the company of Thorin Oakenshield into Laketown." he rolled his eyes. "Plus one doesn't need to be a fine detective to notice how you almost constantly keep an eye on him and the two young ones. You know…your fiancé and his brother" he added with a little wink.

"He's not my fiancé, can I stop pretending you believed that story?" it was her time to roll her eyes and she mimicked his voice when he had asked the same kind of question a few seconds earlier.

"I had never heard that Thorin Oakenshield had sons" he said pensively.

"He doesn't, they are his nephews"

Bard thoughtfully nodded. "And where are they now?"

"Kili's in bed, he did not want to go to the party, and Fili might still be in there, so is Thorin. If I were a good captain, I'd be with them as well"

"I doubt they risk much tonight. I actually think that you'd be more in danger if you went back inside than they are. Plus why stay at a party that you seem to hate so much?"

"I could ask you the same question"

"I was simply curious to see how many barrels of ale the master had kept hidden for himself all those years" Bard replied, shooting a dark look in the direction of the town hall. "Well then, I'm going home, my children wait for me. I am proud to say that they are the three most reasonable people I know in this town"

She nodded, she hadn't been here long but she already had a feeling that he was right.

"You should go too, nothing good will come from there" he added before turning his heels.

"Bard, wait" she called and he turned towards her again, shooting her a questioning glance. "Unfortunately I doubt the others will think of doing it as well but thank you for your help, in the name of the whole company…and thanks for tonight"

He vaguely waved her thanks away and walked off.

"They can't see it now but the people of Laketown need you" she said before he was too far to hear her. This time, he didn't turn around but just stopped walking. "Please be there for them then, because if you're not…no one will" she added and he finally looked behind his shoulder but she was already gone.


	22. Feelings unveiled

**Chapter XXI : Feelings unveiled **

Luna had woken up very early in the morning. Most of the dwarves were still asleep, snoring loudly after all the alcohol they had drunk at the party last night.

Thorin was up as well. He didn't look like he had slept much and she could understand why : today was Durin's day, the day they had been excepting and dreading for so long. She had to admit that she couldn't quite believe either that today was finally the day they would walk through the doors of Erebor. She felt excitement building up inside her but anxiety came at the same time at the thought of the dragon they would find there.

When almost everyone was up, she decided to wake Kili herself. She discovered him tangled in his sheets, frowning in his sleep as if he was having a nightmare but despite that, she found him beautiful. She had given up on pretending she could just see him as a friend ; every time she saw him, her heartbeat suddenly raced and she always feared that he might hear the precipitate beats it made.

"Kili" she called, gently squeezing his shoulder. "Kili, wake up"

He opened his eyes after a few seconds and she worried when the first thing she saw in his glance was pain. He quickly chased it away though, which wasn't too hard when waking up with a sight such as her.

"Come on, we are almost ready to go" she softly said. "Today is the day we reclaim Erebor"

He nodded and in a couple of minutes, they were dressed, packed and ready to go.

* * *

><p>"Where's Bofur?"<p>

"If he's not here, we leave him behind" Thorin coldly said.

"If we want to reach the doors by nightfall, we can risk no more delays" Balin nodded.

They were walking towards the boats that had been prepared for them to cross the lake and Bofur had not been seen since the party last night where he had gotten a bit too much to drink. All the inhabitants of Laketown were crowded on the docks to watch them go although most of them looked hungover. Unsurprisingly, Luna didn't catch any sign of Bard or his children.

The boats had already been packed with the weapons and supplies that had been given to them and the dwarves started getting in until Thorin suddenly blocked the way to Kili when the young dwarf was about to step in one of the boats as well.

"No, not you" he said. "We must travel at speed, you will slow us down"

Fili and Luna who were both already on the boat looked up, concern clear on their faces.

"What are you talking about?" Kili asked with a little smile, as if Thorin was telling him a joke, "I'm coming with you"

Only, his uncle didn't look like he was joking at all and he gravely looked at him when the young dwarf's smile faded.

"I want to be there when the doors open" he exclaimed, "When we first look upon our fathers' halls!"

"Kili", Thorin sighed, putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder and pulling him closer. "Stay here. Rest. You'll join us when you're healed"

He fatherly stroked the young dwarf's messy dark hair then turned towards the boats again while Kili stumbled towards a place to sit a bit further, his face paler than ever.

"I'm staying with the lad, my duty lies to the wounded" Oïn said, joining the young dwarf.

"Thorin, what are you doing?"

The dwarf turned towards the boat in which he found Luna staring at him with a harsh disapproving look on her face.

"You can't just leave him behind, he has been dreaming about this his whole life, he is your family!" she added.

"This is my duty as a king" he cooly replied, not appreciating to be put in questions.

"What about your duty as his uncle?"

"Luna" Kili tried to calm her down, sensing that anger was boiling inside her and fearing that she might do something stupid.

She didn't even spare him a look and kept her eyes determinately locked with his It almost looked as if they were in some sort of competition to know which one would shoot the other the deadliest glance.

"My duty lies to the company, you should know where yours is" Thorin icily said.

"Trust me, I know" she answered in the same tone and made a move to leave the boat but he caught her arm.

"Your duty is to take back Erebor" he said.

"That is my duty to my father!" she exploded, brutally freeing her arm from his grip. "That's what I promised him to do but he's dead, Thorin, do you understand? He is dead! And there is nothing you can do that will bring him back!"

She blinked several times so that the tears that were building up in her eyes didn't run down on her face.

"I promised him to help you reclaim your home, to both of you, that is true, and you have no idea how much I want to keep that promise…but I made another one, more important, a vow actually ; the vow that I would keep you and your family safe. This vow I made to you as my king, yes, but also to Fili and Kili and today, they need me to keep my word more than ever. I will keep my promise, Thorin, I swear…but before trying to please the dead, I will try to please those who are still lucky enough to be alive"

Her eyes left Thorin's for the first time and met Kili's that were expressing all his admiration and more than that, all his love. She could see it now, it was crystal clear, how could she have been so blind to not see it before? It was because she hadn't wanted to see it, she had been afraid. Was she still afraid now? Of course, even more than ever, but she couldn't bear to pretend everything was alright between them anymore.

"Besides…I have another duty to fulfil" she added more to herself than to Thorin.

"What duty is that?" he asked.

"A duty to my heart"

Once again, she made a move to leave the boat.

"If you step out of that boat, don't pretend to the title of captain anymore" he darkly warned her and that threat was welcomed by the outraged exclamations and disapproval looks of all the dwarves.

She looked up to meet his eyes again and it was no longer anger that he read in them but something closer to a sad indifference and even a bit of pity.

"I never pretended to that title, Thorin" she whispered and stepped back onto the docks then watched him defiantly for a short instant before walking towards Kili.

Thorin watched her, bewildered and was only brought back to reality by Fili's voice.

"Uncle, we grew up on tales of the mountain, tales you told us" the blonde dwarf vainly tried to reason him. "You can't take that away from him!"

"One day, you will be king and you will understand"

Fili blankly stared at his uncle then his eyes landed on his brother's pale face and on Luna kneeling next to him. He wondered with disgust what he was still doing on that boat and as he made a move to leave it, Thorin tried to stop him as well.

"Fili, don't be a fool, you belong to the company"

The young prince freed himself and shot him an angry look.

"I belong with my brother" he said then walked to Kili in his turn.

Luna didn't even listen to the short speech the master made and looked in disgust at the musicians playing a cheerful air as the boats departed and the whole town cheered and waved the dwarves goodbye. She saw Balin nod his approval at her from the boat and Dwalin made her understand that he would keep an eye on Thorin.

"Fee…Luna…you have to go…" Kili muttered.

"We are not going anywhere without you, brother, especially not to Erebor" the blonde dwarf replied.

"Luna…"

She knelt in front of him and took his hands. The glance they exchanged then was one of love at last. He raised a hand as if to cup her face but suddenly, he fell forward with a moan of pain.

"Kili!"

All three dwarves around him ; Fili, Luna and Oïn reached at the same time to hold him before he could fall.

Bofur arrived on the docks at that moment, bright red as if he had been running. He saw that the boats were already gone and cursed before looking around him and seeing the four dwarves a bit further.

"Ah, you missed the boat as well ?" he asked, astonished.

* * *

><p>Bard opened the door when Bofur knocked and he looked in surprise at the dwarves standing before him then shot them a dark look.<p>

"No" he said. "I'm done with dwarves. Go away"

He tried to close the door but Bofur held it.

"No, no, no, please! No one will help us!" the dwarf pleaded. "Kili's sick!"

Bard's eyes landed on the dark-haired dwarf who was leaning against his brother with a feverish look on his face.

"He's very sick" Bofur insisted.

"Please, Bard" Luna pleaded and it is only when he saw the worry and despair in her eyes that he opened the door to let them in.

* * *

><p>Kili had been laid down on the table and was now having a very hard time trying to keep from screaming in pain. Fili was trying to calm him down and to keep him still on the table with Luna while Oïn was going through the supplies in the house with Bard, trying to find something to appease the young dwarf.<p>

"Can you not do something?" Fili exclaimed.

"I need to find something to bring down his fever"

Bard was detailing to the healer all the herbs he had in stock.

"They are no use to me" the old dwarf sighed, "I will need king's foil!"

"No, it's weed. We feed it to the pigs"

"Pigs? Weed? Right" Bofur repeated then turned to Kili. "Don't move!" he told him then ran out of the house.

Kili cried out in pain once again and Luna gently took his face in her hands.

"Ssh, Bofur will bring back some king's foil, you'll be fine" she whispered to him but she wasn't even sure he had heard her.

Fili looked at her hands cupping his brother's pale face. They were shaking. He had known that she was in love with him as well but only now could he see how much.

They all suddenly looked up when everything around them shook for an instant and a bit of dust fell from the ceiling. Bard's three children turned towards him.

"Da?"

"It's coming from the mountain!"

Luna and Fili exchanged a worried look then the young dwarf turned towards Bard.

"You should leave us" he said. "Take your children, get out of here"

"And go where? There is nowhere to go"

"Are we going to die, Da?" Tilda asked.

"No, darling"

"The dragon, it's going to kill us"

The bowman bit his lip then looked up and grabbed something that was hanging from the ceiling. They all widened their eyes when they saw that it was a black arrow.

"Not if I kill it first"

And he left the house as well.

Fili turned towards his brother again and he saw that Luna's face was getting almost as pale as his. He squeezed her shoulder.

"Hey" he whispered. "Bofur will be back any minute. He will be fine" he tried to reassure her but could it really work when he himself wasn't convinced?

* * *

><p>Time passed, and although it was probably no more than an hour since Bofur had left, it felt like an eternity to Luna who kept on trying to calm Kili.<p>

They all startled when Sigrid who had gone on the balcony to see if her father was coming back suddenly raced back inside with a scream and tried to bang the door shut before an orc could come in. The only sound that had been heard until then had been Kili's moans and cries of pain, now it was covered by the tumult of the battle that started inside the house between the dwarves and the orcs that came from everywhere, breaking the windows, the ceiling and the door.

"_Kill them all!_" growled a voice in black speech and Luna, widening her eyes in horror, saw Bolg coming inside.

"Stay with him!" Fili commanded, pointing at his brother then threw himself at an orc who had tried to kill Sigrid.

Luna looked around her, they were three to be able to fight but they had no weapon and the orcs largely outnumbered them. Kili was dying on the table and the three children were holding onto each other, hiding under another table. The situation was terrible.

"Luna…" came Kili's broken voice.

"Hush, stay still" she whispered.

At that moment, an orc broke the ceiling and landed in front of her. She ducked to avoid his blow and when she saw that he was leaping towards Kili, anger flashed through her and she kicked him so violently that he fell to the ground, knocked out by the force of her blow.

"Don't even try" she hissed then she saw another one coming towards her and grabbed the unconscious orc's blade to fight him back. Another orc came to help him and she found herself trying to push them both back. Neither Fili nor Oïn could come and help her : they were way too busy fighting their own opponents and trying to keep Bard's children safe.

Her heart missed a beat when she heard Kili's cry and snapping her head back, she saw that an enemy was attacking him and that he had fell from the table.

With a shout of rage, she killed both her opponents then threw herself at the orc and his head fell to the ground before he had even had the time to see her coming.

"Kili!" she dropped on her knees next to him.

"Look out!" he shouted and she ducked just in time to avoid being beheaded by another orc who had slashed his blade towards her.

She swiftly spun around and kicked his legs underneath him, causing to fall and, not losing anytime, she plunged her sword into his chest.

"_Kill the girl!_" came Bolg's voice.

"Luna, run!" Fili yelled from the other side of the room as four orcs were running towards the young girl.

"No way" she muttered, jumping to her feet.

She threw a kitchen knife that she had found on the ground at one of the orc who got hit straight in the head then when the second one came in front of her, she stepped aside to avoid his axe and kicked him as hard as she could between the legs before pushing him with her feet in the way of the third one. She managed to avoid the blow of the fourth one but not enough to avoid being wounded and she hissed in pain when his black blade slashed at her arm.

She tried to fight him back when something suddenly got hold of her neck. It was the very first orc that had attacked her and that she had knocked unconscious. She had not thought he would wake up so soon and now he was tightening his fist around her throat, causing her to choke.

"Luna!" she heard Kili shout. The young dwarf managed to get hold of a little knife on the ground next to him and planted it in the orc's leg. He yelled in pain and dropped the young girl who fell at his feet, panting for breaths.

She met Kili's eyes and they reached for each other. The young dwarf pulled her against him and held her tightly as if he could prevent the orcs from getting to her that way.

It was vain of course : he yelled in pain when an orc hit his already wounded leg and his strengths abandoning him, he could do nothing when they violently took Luna from his arms.

"No! Luna!" he shouted. His own vision was blurring because of the pain and he felt that he had been fighting against his fever for too long now.

"Kili!" she shouted back and tried to fight against the orc's iron grip but it was useless.

She was forced down on her knees and someone brutally grabbed her hair to pull her head backwards and bare her throat. She locked eyes with Bolg who was giving her an evil smirk and she shot him his darkest glance but with two orcs holding her down plus him ready to take her head, she was completely unable to move.

The whole room was shifting under Kili and he could barely distinguish the shape of Luna, held on her knees before the same gigantic orc that had shot him on the bridge a few days ago. He opened his mouth to yell her name when he saw him raised his blade and bring it down towards the young girl's throat then darkness enveloped him and there was nothing more than pain.

Luna didn't close her eyes when she saw Bolg's blade coming down towards her bared throat. She wouldn't die showing them fear. She felt the cold blade touching her skin and cutting through the flesh and then suddenly, in less than a second, she saw something like a flash hitting the orc who was cutting her throat and a green silhouette killing the two who were holding her and she fell to the ground, not able to move nor see anything.

* * *

><p>She thought she could hear less fighting noises but knew she hadn't blacked out for more than a few seconds. She tried to open her eyes but pain flashed from her throat and spread to her whole body, blurring her vision.<p>

"Luna!" she heard and felt someone dropping to his knees besides her. "Oh no, Luna!"

Shaking hands turned her over then someone put his hand on her forehead.

"She's alive" came another voice that wasn't unknown to her but not as familiar. "Bring her to that table"

She finally managed to open her eyes and saw Fili and, to her surprise, Legolas, kneeling above her.

"Oh, Mahal, you're alive" the dwarf sighed, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. He scooped her up into his arms and walked with her towards a table on which he laid her down.

"Fili" she whispered.

"Hush, do not talk, you'll be alright"

"Kili?"

"He will be fine, the other elf is taking care of him"

The other elf? Turning her head as much as she could without hurting her neck any more, she caught a glimpse of another tall silhouette with long red hair ; Tauriel. Obviously, the elves had arrived just in time and helped the dwarves push the orcs back.

"The orcs…"

"They're gone, I said do not talk, you are hurt"

Oïn and Bofur were there as well and the healer quickly started to clean her wounds, helped by Legolas.

"I'm fine" she mumbled, trying to push the hands away but Fili firmly grabbed her forearms and frowned at her.

"No, you're not, stubborn young lady!" he angrily exclaimed. "Your throat is almost entirely cut open and you are covered in blood, in your blood. You will die within a few minutes if you don't let that elf heal you and I will not let you die, I don't want to have to answer Kili once he will have woken up and will be asking for you that you are dead. Please, Luna…"

She couldn't reply to that, especially after the two last words he had said. She had sensed despair in his voice, he had talked about Kili but knew he didn't want to lose her either.  
>She stopped moving and let the elf lean over her again. Legolas put some athelas on her throat and she felt the pain was so relieved at once that she sighed. He then let Oïn bandage the wound and took care of the other minor injuries she had gotten.<p>

"How do you feel, lass?" Oïn asked once they were done.

"Terrific" she muttered.

"Those orcs…why did they want to kill you so badly?" Legolas asked.

"They are orcs, they always want to kill us" she vaguely replied, shrugging her shoulders while Fili was helping her into a sitting position.

"Still they seem to put in a lot of effort to kill you in particular" he raised an eyebrow.

"They are after her because she is our captain, Laïn's last heir and that they swore to wipe out her line" Fili answered when he saw that she remained silent.

"Fili" she gaped at him.

"I owe my brother and sister's lives to these elves, I think we can at least answer their questions now"

"Your sister?" the elf repeated. "Didn't you just say that she was Laïn's daughter?"

"She is, but to me she will always be my sister as much as Kili is my brother"

"Fili" she whispered. He squeezed her knee and kissed her forehead.

"My stubborn, reckless sister who should listen when she is told to run because the orcs are here to kill her"

"A captain doesn't run away from a fight"

"Indeed it seems not" he sighed and she chuckled.

"You should lie down, lass, you lost a lot of blood" Bofur gently said and whether she wanted it or not, Fili made a move to lay her down again but he suddenly stopped what he was doing when they heard Kili slightly waking up on the other side of the room.

Tauriel was done taking the poison away from his blood and was just finishing bandaging his leg. He flickered his eyes open and saw her.

"You saved me" he mumbled so low that they barely heard him.

"Yes" Tauriel answered.

"You…you shouldn't have" he continued in the same almost inaudible tone. His thoughts seemed confused, he was only half-awake and struggling not to fall asleep. "What is the point of living if…if it's not to be with her?"

The elf looked a bit confused then shot a quick glance in the direction of Luna.

"They…they killed her those monsters…I saw them" a tear left Kili's eye. "Cowards…they were twice her size and yet they had to be three to kill her after she had already been wounded…and now she's dead"

His voice was now only a murmur but in the complete silence that had fallen on all of them, they could all hear it.

"I wish…I wish she had lived…then I would have told her how much I love her, no matter…no matter what she thinks or what the others think but now,…now it's too late, she is far, far away from me. She walks in starlight in another world. Can you…can you see her eyes light up with a thousand stars when she smiles?"

Fili was staring at his brother, completely bewildered by what was happening. He turned to Luna who was still sitting on the table next to him and saw tears trailing down her face. Luna never cried, even after her brother and her father had died, he had never seen her cry, although he knew of course that at the time, it had partly because she had always waited for the times when there was no one to see her to cry, so he was even more shocked to see those tears on her face.

"Do you think she could have loved me?" Kili asked Tauriel in a murmur.

"Fili, take her to the lad" Oïn said, wiping a tear away from the corner of his eye.

The young prince didn't have to be told twice and he carefully scooped Luna in his arms to bring her to the table on which Kili was lying.

"I think she could" Tauriel whispered.

"Come on brother, look who I have here for you"

Kili turned his face when he heard his brother's voice and he laid still for a few seconds when he saw Luna who Fili had carried to the table.

The tears he had been trying to hold back finally left his eyes and he held out his hand to her then closed his arms around her when she snuggled against him, hiding her face against his torso.

"Let's leave them alone" Bofur suggested and they all left the room.

"Tauriel, let's go now" Legolas said as soon as they were outside. "We need to find out where those orcs went"

She nodded and Fili turned to them.

"Thank you" he said with the most sincerity he could. "Thank you so much for what you did"

Tauriel offered him a smile.

"Where do you think you'll find the orcs?" Bofur asked.

"I don't know, but they left towards the North" Legolas said. "We'll trace their way"

"How about you, what will you do now?" Tauriel asked.

Fili's eyes landed on the looming shape of the lonely mountain. Now that the fight was over and that he wasn't worried anymore about the life of his brother, he recalled the mini earthquake that had happened earlier in the evening. He bit his lip, wondering what had happened inside that mountain and not daring to think of something bad.

"Now we go to Erebor and hope the others are still alive" he said.


	23. The burning of Laketown

_**There we are, beginning of the last movie already! I went on so quickly! As always, thanks for those who favourited/followed and reviewed, I always love to read those reviews, thanks for your support. Let me know what you think of this chapter and as ever, enjoy!**_

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><p><span><strong>Chapter XXII : The burning of Laketown <strong>

Kili's last strengths had finally left him almost as soon as he had closed his arms around Luna and he had fallen into a deep sleep. The young girl hadn't moved from where she was and she wouldn't have for all the gold in Erebor. Lying against him, her head resting on his chest and his arms that even in sleep, kept her close to him, was everything she could wish for right now.

She watched his face slowly getting its colours back in the vacillating light of a candle and slowly moved her arm to gently pull a strand of his hair away from his face. The others did not come back inside for all the time he was asleep and she was grateful for that. It might sound selfish, but she didn't want anyone right now to come and break the tranquility of this moment. She put her head back on his chest and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat and letting the steady rise and fall of his chest appease her.

Thorin and the rest of the company had probably reached Erebor a few hours ago and thus found the dragon, Bolg and his troops had found and attacked them here in Laketown, she had once more escaped from death just in time but all she could think of was that Kili loved her. The words he had said to Tauriel in his half-conscious state had had the effect of a shockwave on her. She had never thought before that he actually loved her. Yes, he had kissed her that night at Beorn's but she had persuaded herself that it was because she had somehow managed to trick him into thinking that he fancied her, nothing more.

But what he said, the despair in his voice and the sincerity of his words…he did love her after all and she loved him more than anything. She should probably have been weighting the pros and cons of a relationship between them and admit that as a prince and a captain of Erebor, they shouldn't listen to their feelings. She should have been leaving his arms while he was still asleep and try to convince herself that what he had said, he had said under the influence of his fever and if he asked her, told him that it was impossible but she couldn't. Right now, she couldn't and she doubted that if she couldn't leave his arms now, she wouldn't be able to do it anymore later.

Oh, after all, why was she even worrying about that now? They hadn't even reached the mountain and if they did, they did not know what they would find. And it's not as if the others, especially Thorin, hadn't understood what was going on between the two of them. She had basically admitted in front of the whole company that she loved him when she had left the boat to stay with him, and thus faced Thorin's threat of losing her title of captain.

She wondered for a few seconds what her father would say if he could see her now. By what she had done, she had broken at least half a dozen of all the fundamental rules he had taught her and she wasn't even sure that Thorin would take her as his captain anymore. According that he was still alive of course…and if he wasn't, she would have miserably failed her mission but at the same time, if she had gone with him, Kili might have been the one who would have died.

She shook her head to chase these thoughts away and suddenly felt Kili's hand gently stroking her hair. Looking up, she only noticed then that he was awake and looking at her with a little smile.

"Hey" she whispered.

"Hey"

She had a little moment of panic, suddenly wondering whether he remembered what had happened earlier and almost expected him to question the fact that she was laying against him but a look in his eyes eased all her doubts.

"I thought…I thought they had killed you" he murmured.

"It takes more than a bunch of orcs to get rid of me"

He chuckled then his face became serious again and he raised himself into a sitting position to be able to look at her in the eyes while they talked.

She imitated him but shot him a little worried glance.

"You should probably lie down" she whispered but he shook his head.

"I'm fine…Luna, I need to know…"

She watched him expectantly.

"What you said to Thorin…about a duty to your heart…was it true?" he asked

She had never seen him so serious and lacking of confidence in himself. He almost looked as if a word from her could hurt him more than any poisoned arrow ever would.

She swallowed nervously, fully aware that she was blushing.

"Yes" she said after a short pause then she sighed. She couldn't hide her feelings anymore and it was far time that they had a serious conversation. "Kili, I know that this is going to sound crazy but trust me, I have turned the situation around and around in my head for weeks now and…"

She sighed again and took his hands in hers.

"I love you, Kili, more than I could ever love anyone. When I first realised it a couple of weeks ago, I tried to convince myself that it wasn't true but it was in vain. The more I tried to tell myself that it was wrong, the more I loved you. People always ask me how I survived the walk from the hidden valley to your house on my own after the orcs killed my family and I usually tell them that I don't know and that it was probably luck, which is partly true, but not entirely. I could do it because of you. It is you I was thinking of all the way and after that, when I woke up at your house, I recovered thanks to you, because you were there, always by my side and that I knew I was safe when you were there. I still do, I know it should be the opposite, you should be the one feeling safe when I'm around, but believe me when I say that whenever you're nearby, nothing can scare me…nothing but the thought of losing you"

"Luna" Kili sighed, squeezing her hands. "You can not lose me, not if you keep on being such an extraordinary captain. I am the one who is always afraid to lose you and you can't deny I don't have my reasons to fear it. Ever since you came to us on that cold winter night, almost a year ago already, I never stopped fearing for your life! First, when you arrived and that you were more dead than alive…it took you two weeks to just wake up and I don't doubt Fili already made sure to tell you, but I sat besides your bed every night to look after you and wait for you to open your eyes. Then we started this quest and, I know you do it to protect us, don't get me wrong, but it seems that you have put yourself in every possible danger we came across. You…you basically jumped from trees on trolls, you pushed us into safety and stayed behind to face a whole orc pack on your own, you were almost crashed on a mountain which you almost fell from afterwards, you barely escaped when a goblin tried to behead you, then you threw yourself at Azog without so much as thinking about the consequences, you could have been eaten alive by a spider, you almost drowned and now almost got killed by orcs again"

"Yeah…it does sound a bit bad when you put it that way"

"The point is, you say that you are scared of losing me, but can you imagine how I felt during all those times? How I feel everyday when I see you putting yourself between me and a danger? I know it's your job, we have already had this conversation and I won't come back with it…but now that you know how much I love you, do you realise how terrible I feel when I have to let you take a blow in my place?"

He paused for a few seconds, just looking at her and she bit her lip. Yes, she could definitely understand how he was feeling.

"I think…that this is partly why a captain and a member from the royal family shouldn't share more than friendship" she sighed and his face suddenly showed fear.

"Does that mean you…?" he started but she determinately shook her head.

"No, of course not. It's too late to deny that I love you anyway. Can I tell you a secret?"

He nodded.

"I am scared, Kili. Not of the orcs, not even of the dragon, I am scared of how much I love you…I don't know what would happen if we tried this out"

He suddenly cupped her face and touched her forehead with his. She closed her eyes.

"Truth is, I am terrified as well" he muttered, "and I have no idea what might happen either. But one thing I know for certain is that you are my everything, my One, and that together, we are stronger than anything. If you are ready, then I am ready to try this out and I promise you that my love for you will have no boundary. If you are not, then a word from you will silence me forever. What do you say?"

For all answer, Luna closed the distance between them and quickly and softly, gave him a little kiss on the lips, filled with all her fears and all her dreams.

"I say we do it together, and rock it as usual" she whispered and he chuckled before pulling her towards him and kissing her for real this time.

Their first kiss, at Beorn's house, had been extraordinary and had left both of them with a sensation they weren't ready to forget but this one…this one was exceptional beyond measure. They were gentle and slow at first then their kiss grew more passionate and a low moan came from the back of Kili's throat when the young girl tangled her fingers in his hair. He pulled her even closer to him and his hands made their way down her back to rest on her waist. Like at Beorn's house, she tasted of honey and wild berries and of that strange thing that reminded him of a warm summer night, except that this time, it was a thousand times better.

Luna felt like her heart was exploding inside her chest and she knew that right now, everything was in its right place.

None of them knew how much time passed before they finally parted and when they did, Luna abandoned herself in his warm hug and he held her close to him, breathing the sweet perfume of her hair while she buried her face in his neck.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, panting for breaths.

"Well…this was a pretty good start" Kili muttered, his heart still racing and she chuckled.

"I agree" she said with a soft smile.

He took her face in his hands and softly kissed her lips until they suddenly parted when they heard someone clearing his voice on the other side of the room.

Spinning around, they discovered Fili, Bofur, Oïn and Bard's three children watching them with huge grins on their faces.

"Please, let us know if we are disturbing" Fili smirked at them.

They both turned bright red but they kept holding hands. There was no point in trying to hide their feelings anymore.

"How long have you been standing there?" Kili asked his brother, raising an eyebrow.

"Long enough" he replied, his smile growing wider then he walked towards them. "So you two finally found out that you both love each other?"

"It was about time!" Bofur exclaimed. "You were the only two in the company who didn't know yet"

That made Luna chuckle.

"I'm happy for you" Fili said, a bit more seriously, putting his hands on their shoulders. "For both of you"

His brother warmly squeezed his arm with a smile.

"How do you feel lad?" Oïn asked Kili, coming back to a more serious subject.

"I'm alright. That elvish medicine works wonders"

"For a moment, I thought I'd lost the two of you" Fili bit his lip.

"But you didn't" Luna replied and the blonde dwarf nodded before pulling them both into a big brotherly hug.

"Bain…" came Tilda's voice.

They turned towards her. She had walked to a window and was obviously staring in horror at something outside.

"I don't mean to interrupt this very sweet moment but I think we are in big, big troubles!" she exclaimed.

"How big?" Bain asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Like…dragon-big" came the little girl's terrified answer.

"What?!" Luna exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

At that moment, a terrible roar made the ground shake underneath their feet and they stared at each other in horror.

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><p>"Let's get out of here" Fili muttered, rushing everyone in the house and they all heard the alarm bells of the town starting to ring everywhere in the streets. "Everyone, out!"<p>

In a matter of seconds, they were gathering their few things and getting ready to leave.

Luna ran out of the house to look up in the night sky and gasped when she saw the distant shape of the dragon flying towards Laketown. The inhabitants were starting to get out of their houses, woken up by the bells and fear was slowly creeping up on them as they understood what was going on. Already, boats were leaving the docks, carrying families and the few supplies they had had the time to assemble.

"We're not leaving, not without our father!" Bard firmly declared.

"If you stay here, your sisters will die" Fili gloomily replied while pulling his brother up onto his feet, "is that what your father would want?"

Bain shot him a hard look.

"Come" Sigrid pressed him, helping Tilda to put on her coat.

By the time they reached the little boat attached to the dock in front of the house, it was already hard to make their way through the waters due to all the people trying to flee the town by boat as well. In only a couple of minutes, panic had ceased the inhabitants of the town who were running in the streets and shouting in a big chaos.

Luna looked up and saw the dark shape of the dragon flying over the town, ready to burn it down. She met Fili's eyes and they exchanged a terrified glance. They had to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Tilda screamed when Smaug reappeared from the clouds, its belly glowing orange and suddenly, fire came from its mouth and in a few seconds, the town was set alight.

Luna threw herself towards Bain who was closest to her and covered him when the fire passed above them. When she looked up then, all the houses around them were burning and people were screaming everywhere. She saw someone jump from a window into the water and a child cry for his mother who had pushed him outside of their house just in time but hadn't had the time to escape from it herself.

Smaug came down a few more times and soon, the whole town was burning. All of them, children and dwarves alike, looked in horror at the bodies already laying down on the docks, being walked on by those who were still alive and terrified beyond measure. At some point, they bumped onto another, larger boat carrying piles of gold and Luna looked in disgust at the master who was trying to escape with his wealth and didn't care for his people.

The young girl suddenly snapped her head back when Tilda gasped.

"Da!" she screamed.

Following the child's glance, they all saw Bard standing at the top of a tall tower, trying to fire arrows at the dragon every time it came close enough.

"He hit it!" Kili suddenly exclaimed. "He hit the dragon!"

"No…" Luna whispered.

"He did!" the dwarf insisted. "He hit his mark, I saw!"

"His arrows can not pierce his tide" the young girl sadly shook her head. "I fear nothing will"

Bain's face seemed to discompose when he heard her. He turned his glance towards his father again but his eyes suddenly caught glimpse of something on a boat that was still tied to a dock at the foot of a statue.

His eyes widened and before anyone could do anything, he jumped out of the boat.

"Bain!"

"What are you doing? Come back!"

Luna had been trained to act quickly in such situations and before the others were even able to try and catch him, she jumped out of the boat as well and ran after him, ignoring the dwarves' shouts in her back.

"Luna!" Kili yelled, trying to follow her as well but Bofur strongly held him back.

"No, don't! She knows what she's doing!"

"Wait! We must wait for them!"

"We can't go back!" Oïn exclaimed.

Kili's face was discomposed when he met Fili's eyes that were filled with worry.

"We need to get out of here" the blonde dwarf said, ignoring the hurt in his brother's eyes.

"But…Luna…"

"Bain!" Tilda cried once more.

"They will find their way and will join us soon enough" the dwarf tried to reassure them.

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><p>"What the hell are you doing?!" Luna exclaimed when she finally caught up with Bain.<p>

He freed himself from her grip and bent down to pick up a parcel from the abandoned boat he had ran to. The young girl's eyes widened when she saw that it was a black arrow, the only thing that would be able to put the dragon down.

"Da won't be able to kill the dragon without this" the boy said and she slowly nodded.

"Come on then, there is no time to lose!" and they raced towards the tower Bard had climbed.

By the time they reached the top, the bowman had ran out of arrows. He widened his eyes when he saw his son and Luna.

"Bain! What are you doing?!" he exclaimed. "Why didn't you leave?! You were supposed to leave!"

"I came to help you!"

"No! Nothing can stop it now!"

"This might" the boy said, holding out the black arrow to his father.

Bard took it and despite everything, looked prouder than ever of his son.

"Bain…you go back, you get out of here, now" he then turned towards Luna. "Please, stay with him, make sure he's safe"

She nodded and was about to say something but she suddenly saw the dragon leaping towards their tower.

"Look out!" she shouted and the beast's back paws destroyed the top of the wooden structure when it came flying towards it.

She grabbed the young boy and pushed him in his father's arms on top of the little platform then closed her eyes as wood fell on them and she held on to the edge of the platform, her feet balancing in the emptiness under her.

"Hang on!" Bard exclaimed and he quickly pulled her onto the platform as well.

They looked at the ruins in flame around them, panting for breaths then Bard cursed under his breath when he saw that his bow was broken in two. Luna's attention was drawn by a whole other thing than the bow though when she saw that the dragon had aimed their tower in purpose. It landed a bit further, destroying the burning houses around him and turned its massive head towards them, sniffing around it as if it was catching a scent that it remembered.

"I thought this was a town of men…yet I smell dwarves again" came its deep, earth-shaking voice. "And...yes...I recall that scent"

Luna felt a shrill running down her spine when the dragon's orange eyes landed on her and seemed to detail her features, stopping a bit longer on the scar on her cheek.

"You were but a newborn when last we met, daughter of Laïn"

For a moment, the young girl's blood froze in her veins.

"Luna" Bard put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. Bain, besides him, looked more terrified than she had ever seen anyone in her life. "It knows you?" the man asked her, bewildered.

"I was born the day it settled in Erebor, this scar it left me" she said. "You need to take it down"

"But I will only have one shot, I need to make sure it won't fly away again"

"I'll divert him"

Bard raised an eyebrow at her but nodded, what choice did he have? He quickly built himself a makeshift bow with the string from his longbow and two wooden pillars that still stood there and asked Bain to stand between the pillars, facing him so that he could position the black arrow on his shoulder and aim at the dragon.

"Who are you to stand against me?" the beast turned its attention on the man.

"Smaug!"

The orange eyes turned towards the young girl again. While Bard was improvising his new bow, she had quickly climbed down the tower until she was low enough to jump on a nearby roof that had been spared by the flames enough to remain stable.

"What are you doing, little dwarf?" Smaug asked, bending down his long neck to take a closer look at her. "Are you not afraid of me? Have you never been told where that scar of yours comes from?"

"Yes, I have, but I think that if you missed a newborn baby then, you will hardly be able to kill me now"

She did not believe a word of it, of course, but she had to keep its focus on her while Bard was aiming the black arrow at him and from what she knew about dragons, hurting their pride was one of the best ways to get their attention, not mentioning their anger. She recalled the discussion she had had with Kili a few hours earlier about how she was always putting herself in all sorts of danger and thought at that moment that if the dragon did not kill her, the young dwarf probably would.

It seemed to work though because Smaug narrowed its eyes and tightened its claws so hard on a house that it collapsed.

"Do you know who you are talking to, fool?" it asked, its voice like thunder. "I will end your miserable life just like I ended your mother's in fire!"

"You killed a woman who was giving birth! Are you proud of that too?"

"Burn!"

The dragon's roar sent vibrations through her whole body and she threw herself just in time on the other side of the roof when it suddenly spat huge flames towards her.

She looked up and raised her arms in a vain attempt to protect herself when Smaug launched itself towards her and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Bard fire the arrow.

It all happened very quickly, in only a couple of seconds, but from the way the fire the dragon had been about to spit out suddenly died in its mouth and the way it roared in pain, deviating from its trajectory, Luna knew the bowman had hit his mark.

She opened her mouth to scream when the huge beast crashed onto the house she had been standing on but no sound left her lips and she closed her eyes when she was ejected into the air with debris of burning wood all around her. She thought she could hear the agonising roars of the dragon somewhere above her before she crashed into the icy waters and all at once, there was nothing but darkness.

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><p>Bard stopped breathing for a few seconds when he fired the black arrow. He watched it fly into the air and embed itself into the dragon's flesh, on the exact spot where it was missing a scale.<p>

He watched, unable to move, as Smaug stumbled, destroyed the house Luna had been standing on then raised high into the air, his agonising roars echoing everywhere on the lake.

He only came back to reality when the shape of the dragon's dead body fell back towards the town.

"Hold on!" he yelled, grabbing his son and pulling him against him to try and shelter him.

The dragon did not fall on top of them but close enough to have the tower destroyed by its massive tail and both Bard and his son fell into the air to land brutally on a dock a bit further.

The bowman raised himself into a sitting position at once and a sigh of relief escaped him when he saw that his son was alright as well.

"Da! We did it! It's dead!"

He nodded and hugged him tightly until a house collapsed a few blocks further and they came back to reality, remembering that Laketown was still burning and that they now probably were the only living inhabitants who hadn't left it yet.

"Let's go!" Bard exclaimed, jumping to his feet and taking his son's hand.

"Wait, where is Luna?"

Bard looked around him. There was no sign of the young girl. He remembered seeing her being ejected from the roof when it had been destroyed, along with huge pieces of wood that could have easily killed her when ejected with such force.

"We need to find her!" Bain insisted and he nodded.

They both started running on the docks and calling her name, trying to avoid the flames that were consuming the town at the same time.

After a good ten minutes though, the situation was getting worse and they couldn't afford to stay any longer.

"We need to go" Bard said, sorrow in his voice. If they hadn't found the young girl by now, he doubted she would ever be found again. Plus he had seen her fall and although it saddened him, the chances that anyone survived such a fall were very low.

"But…"

"Come on, son"

He saw grief in his son's eyes but the boy followed him to one of the last boats that had not been either used or destroyed and they started making their way out of the town.

"Da, look!" Bain suddenly exclaimed, pointing at something floating in the water as Bard was paddling.

He reached out and grabbed the little piece of clothing that had been floating there. Bard's eyes widened when he recognised it. It came from a dress that Tilda had owned and that she had given to Luna when the dwarves had taken refugee in their house.

He took it from Bain's hands, there could be no mistake, he recognised it even though it was half burnt and covered in traces blood that the water hadn't managed to wash away.

"Da, is she…?" Bain couldn't finish his phrase and his father put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small, grave nod.

Without that young girl, he probably would never have been able to kill the dragon. She owned him nothing, she had paid him along with the others for the help he had given them, yet she had just given her life so that he and his son would live.


	24. Grief and sorrow

**_Hey everyone! First of all, thanks for all the reviews, I am so sorry for how I ended the last chapter, it was a bit mean but I must confess...I loved leaving you on a cliff-hanger haha I'm sorry! Hopefully this chapter will be better! As always, let me know what you think and enjoy :)  
><em>**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter XXIII : Grief and sorrow<strong>

As soon as their boat reached the shore of the lake on which the survivors of Laketown were gathering, Kili jumped out of it and started looking everywhere for Luna, calling her name and hoping to see a flash of ginger curls in the chaos.

Sigrid and Tilda were doing the same, looking for their father and brother. Those who had not been lucky enough to cross the lake in a boat had swam and were crawling onto dry land, exhausted and shivering. The men and women who were better quickly started helping out the less fortunate, handing out blankets and consoling all those who had lost a relative or a friend.

Suddenly, Kili caught a flash of red hair in the corner of his eyes and raced towards its owner but when he saw who it belonged to, he was at the same time surprised and disappointed.

"What are you doing here?" Fili asked, arriving after his brother and seeing Tauriel and Legolas amongst the survivors.

"We had barely reached the shores of the lake when we saw the dragon attacking Laketown" Tauriel replied.

"We saw it die, what happened?" Legolas asked.

"We think it was Bard, he shot it" Fili answered.

"Luna was with him, have you seen her?" Kili asked in a pleading voice.

"No, sorry"

"She can't be far, Kee, we'll find her" Fili placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Da!" Tilda suddenly yelled and they snapped their heads back to see the two girls run straight into their father's arms.

"Come here!" Bard exclaimed, hugging them tightly, emotion clear on his face "It's alright"

"It was Bard, he killed the dragon, I saw it with my own eyes! He brought the beast down!" a man exclaimed, stepping forward from the crowd that had assembled around the little family "He shot it dead with a black arrow!"

The people that had gathered around him started cheering and shouting their thanks to Bard who looked uneasy.

Kili pushed his way past the men to reach him.

"Luna! Where is she?!" he gaped at him.

The others had also made their way to the bowman and he looked at them with sorrow in his eyes. Kili felt his heart tighten in his chest when the man did not answer at once and sighed.

"Where is she?" he repeated in a whisper.

Fili's face discomposed when he saw the tears building up in Bain's eyes.

"She gave her life to kill the dragon" Bard softly said.

He took from his pocket the little piece of clothing that came from the dress the young girl had been wearing and gave it to Kili.

The young dwarf suddenly felt as if everything around him had stopped. He looked at the cloth, his hands shaking. That was impossible.

"I'm sorry" Bard said.

"No!"

"Kili…"

"No! That's not true! She is alive, she is still over there, we have to…"

"Kili!"

Fili grabbed his brother by the shoulders. The crowd was starting to call for Bard again, they couldn't stay here. He met the bowman's eyes one last time and they exchanged a nod then he pulled his brother away from the survivors of Laketown.

"We have to go back! She is still over there, she is…"

"Kili…it's over" Fili said, tears building up in his eyes.

His brother looked at him in despair. Fili should be telling him that he was right, that Luna was alive and that they were going to find her. He should have reassured him, tell him that everything was going to be alright but he didn't. Grief was plain on his face and slowly, a tear ran down from his eye.

"Fili…"

Kili fell on his knees, his arms tightly folded around his chest as if to keep it from falling apart. A sudden pain had awoken in his heart and was torturing him, he wanted to yell out his grief to the world but he couldn't. His whole world was collapsing around him. He barely felt Fili kneeling in front of him and pulling him in a tight hug.

Bofur and Oïn were standing next to them, both with tears on their faces, looking in silence at the smoking ruins of the town in the distance. Bofur slowly reached up and took his hat off for the very first time in ages.

"She can't be…she can't be dead" Kili gasped between two sobs, tightening his grip on the cloth so hard that his knuckles were white. Only a few hours ago, he had be the happiest dwarf in the universe when he had finally been able to confess his love her and that she had done the same and now…now the dream had turned into a nightmare.

Fili didn't answer, he placed his chin on top of his brother's head and let the silent tears streak down his face.

They stayed like that for a few moments until Fili took his brother's arms and parted a few inches from him to look into his eyes.

"We have to go"

Kili shook his head. He was even paler than when he had been poisoned.

"Kee…we need to reach that mountain"

"I am not going. This accursed place was never my home from a start, neither was it hers but she died trying to get us there"

"Then if you don't go, she will have died for nothing"

His brother shook violently and more tears streamed down his face.

"Besides, we don't know what happened to the others, they might be hurt or…or worse" Fili swallowed nervously. "Let's go"

"No"

"Kee, it's our heritage"

"Then go. Leave me"

"I am not going anywhere without you, you know that. Please, Kee, I have lost Luna already, don't make me suffer losing you as well because then I…I won't be able to bear it"

Kili looked at at his brother's face where a new wave of fresh tears were streaming down. They hugged each other again until Bofur warmly squeezed their shoulders.

They slowly got to their feet. Fili nodded at Tauriel and Legolas who had watched them with sorrow in their eyes and they nodded in return then they walked to a little boat that would get them across the lake to the mountain.

* * *

><p>No one talked during their short trip on the lake, nor while they walked towards the gates of Erebor. Their hearts were too full of grief to say anything. Kili had stopped crying, now he just felt empty and although his brother wasn't doing much better, he could see that emptiness reflected in his eyes.<p>

Kili didn't know what he was going to do but staying in Erebor wasn't appealing at all. He was going there because of Fili for now, but he did not care about this damned mountain anymore. He may be a prince there but it was never his home. From the beginning of the quest, of course he had been excited to finally get there. It was such a promising place that could offer them a new life and most of all, where he could be with Luna everyday and give her a new home. She needed it so much…

Being in Erebor had meant being with her and in his mind, he had always pictured them both walking through the gates along with Fili, all three together but now, she wouldn't be with them and that's something he couldn't cope with.

When they finally arrived at the front gate, they stopped for a few moments though and exchanged worried looks. The big front doors of Erebor had been all but destroyed and now only a huge gap was there.

They ran inside, their hearts pounding in their chests. What if Smaug had killed the whole company? They didn't even want to think about it, they weren't sure they could cope with any more losses today.

Under normal circumstances, both Fili and Kili would have looked in awe at the enormous and magnificent hall of Erebor but right now, all they could think of was Luna who would have deserved a thousand times to be here but who would never see the mountain.

"Hello?" Bofur called, pronouncing the very first word since they had left Bard. "Bombur? Bifur?"

They looked around, desperately waiting for one of the dwarves to come and welcome them but there was no one.

"Anybody?" Bofur pleaded, his voice broken with grief.

Trying not to give up their hopes, they went further inside the mountain and ran down a couple of stairs. Neither Fili nor Kili remembered their way through the mountains but the two older dwarves did and they went towards the centre where they most excepted to find the company if they were still alive.

"Wait!" suddenly shouted a voice in the distance. "Wait!"

"It's Bilbo!" Bofur exclaimed, his face brightening up a little bit with renewed hope. "He's alive!"

In a matter of seconds, they heard precipitate footsteps and the hobbit came running towards them, panting for breaths.

Fili sighed in relief for a brief instant before the weight of Luna's death came back on his shoulders.

"Stop!" the hobbit was shouting when he stopped in front of them. "Stop, stop! We need to leave, we all need to leave!"

"We only just got here" Bofur argued.

"I've tried to bring it to him but he won't listen" the hobbit sighed.

"What do you mean, lad?" Oïn asked.

"Thorin! He's been down there for days! He doesn't sleep, he barely eats…he's not been himself, not at all. It's this place, I think a sickness lies on it"

"Sickness?" Kili echoed, focusing on what was going on for the first time. He met his brother's eyes and they exchanged a deeply troubled look that, for once, had nothing to do with Luna. "What kind of sickness?"

Fili didn't wait for Bilbo's answer and he pushed past them to walk down another flight of steps, followed closely by his brother and the others.

A thousand times, the brothers had been described the treasure of Erebor but still, when they arrived on a little platform that stood above the enormous piles of glittering gold and jewels, they stood motionless and voiceless for a few seconds.

And, in the middle of that treasure stood Thorin who looked like he was in a whole other world.

"Gold…Gold beyond measure" he was muttering, "beyond sorrow and grief"

He then saw the dwarves and the hobbit looking at him from the platform.

"Behold the great treasure hold of Thror" he said in a deep, low voice then all of a sudden, he threw a ruby to Fili who caught it.

"Welcome, my sister's sons" Thorin said, putting his hand against his chest, "to the kingdom of Erebor"

"Come on lads" Oïn gently pulled the brothers back by the fabric of their tunics and they followed, despair clear on their faces.

They had feared to find their uncle wounded, or worse, dead, but the dragon sickness had been completely absent from their thoughts. Not only was Luna dead, but now Thorin had succumbed to the gold sickness.

* * *

><p>They followed Bilbo in silence to a room where the rest of the company were gathered and when they saw them, all the dwarves jumped on their feet and ran to them to wrap them up in tight hugs. Fili wanted to share the others' happiness, he really did, but all he could think of was that Luna should have been here to share it as well and be hugged and embraced by all. He took a quick look at his brother. Kili was paler than ever, he had kept his head down ever since they had entered the mountain as if he did not want to look at it. He was being warmly welcomed by Ori and Nori but couldn't bring himself to answer their warm greeting.<p>

In the noisy and merry atmosphere that had settled in the little room with their arrival, the young dark-haired prince, now being hugged by Dwalin, met Bifur's eyes behind the warrior's shoulder and his heart tightened. Bifur was the only one so far who hadn't taken part in the merry gathering and was instead looking at the young dwarf expectantly. Kili read the silent question in his eyes before he had even spoken it and felt the pain in his chest renewed.

"_Luna?_" he asked in his usual low Kûzdhul groan.

Only then did everyone suddenly grow quiet. They all looked around the room for the young girl and some of them suddenly paled, especially when they finally noticed the looks on the faces of those who had just arrived.

"Where is Luna?" Balin asked, something like concern mixed with fear appearing on his face.

None of the four dwarves answered at once. Kili looked down once again to hide the new tears building up in his eyes and Fili tried to find the courage deep inside of him to answer them. Right now, he needed to be strong like the heir to the throne he was, and strong for his brother but all he wanted was to run away and hide to be able to break down and cry without anyone to hear him.

"Where's the lass?" Dwalin asked, more insistent, taking a step forward.

"She…" Fili's voice was broken and shaking. He swallowed to try and steady it at least a little bit. "She helped to kill the dragon…and she didn't come back"

They looked at the young dwarf in a shocked silence for a few moments. None were even sure that they were breathing. Oh, how Kili wished he could have just disappeared into the ground right now, when he felt that most of the glances were turning towards him.

"What…what does that mean?" came Ori's shy and shaking voice.

It was too much for Kili. He finally raised his head, not caring that they could all see the tears that were streaming down his face and locked eyes with the scribe.

"It means that she is dead!" he suddenly exploded, not able to contain his pain anymore and ignoring the hurt on the dwarf's face. "She went after that dragon with Bard to protect his son and it killed her! It killed her! She is never coming back, Ori, do you understand that? She is dead, Luna is dead!"

And he ran out of the room. They watched him go, shocked and grieved beyond measure then the silence was broken by Ori who burst into tears.

Kili bumped into his uncle just outside of the room. He tried to push past him, he didn't want to be with anyone right now, he just wanted to be alone and cry his pain out but Thorin gently but firmly caught his arm. When he looked up to meet his glance, the young dwarf understood that he had heard everything. At that moment, his uncle didn't have the sickness in his look, he seemed to be back to his normal self and all that Kili could see on his face was sadness.

"Kili" was all that he said and without even realising what he was doing, the young dwarf buried his face in his uncle's fur coat while he was closing his arms around him. All at once, he was a little boy again, seeking comfort against his uncle.

"She's dead" he sobbed. "She's never coming back"

"I know, Kili, I know" Thorin whispered, stroking his hair.

* * *

><p>The first thing Luna realised when she woke up was that she was shivering. It took her a couple of minutes to clear her thoughts and finally notice that she was lying on the shore of the lake, half of her body still in the water.<p>

She tried to raise herself into a sitting position or at least get out of the water but a sudden flash of pain coming from her middle stopped her and she bit her lip not to cry out. She dared a look down at her aching body. Her clothes were torn apart, half burnt and covered in blood. She was in a very pitiful state. A little piece of the dress she had been wearing was missing, baring her side and she understood that it must have been burnt and fell off when she saw her burnt and bloody skin. She poked at the injury and threw her head backwards, hissing in pain.

"Luna?"

She snapped her head around, startled, and saw a horse that she had not even heard coming with Legolas and Tauriel on it. They were looking at her in such a big surprise that it almost looked like shock and she raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" Tauriel gaped at her, getting off the horse and racing towards her, followed closely by Legolas.

"I guess I was washed ashore" she gritted between her teeth, wincing in pain.

Tauriel took a look at her injury and started cleaning and bandaging it.

"Everyone thinks you're dead" Legolas told her in the meantime.

"What?"

She looked at him, bewildered.

"Bard told the dwarves you had died facing the dragon. After he brought it down, he looked for you but couldn't find you…how did you end up here?"

"I'm not sure…I just remember being ejected from that roof then falling into the water…then I think I blacked out and when I woke up, I was half-lying on a board, probably a piece of wood from a house, floating on the water. Then I was out again, and I just woke up here"

"You really have a lucky star watching upon you" Tauriel said, wrapping a bandage around her middle.

"_More like three lucky stars_" she thought, thinking of her father and brothers.

"You said the others think I'm dead? Fili and Kili too?" she asked.

"Yes, we saw them earlier, they left for the mountain"

"The mountain" she repeated in a whisper and looking around her to see exactly where she had been washed ashore, she found its looming shape to her right. "I need to get there"

"Well we can't exactly drop you off in front of the gates but we are riding North, so we can give you a lift until we need to take separate ways. You'll be close enough then, it won't be a long walk" Legolas offered.

"Thank you" she humbly said and they helped her on her feet then on the horse's back.

Her side was still hurting but the elvish medicine was definitely working wonders. She thought that it was the second time in less than two days that these two elves helped her or someone she loved, she really owed them much. Sitting in front of Legolas on the horse, she looked up at the tall shape of the mountain in front of them the whole time they were riding.

She hadn't been washed ashore very far though and their ride was quite short. Legolas stopped the horse at the point where they needed to part and Tauriel helped her down. She had a little wince of pain when her feet touched the ground but shrugged her shoulders when the elves shot her a concerned look.

"Thanks again" she told them. "Not only for now but for what you did back in Laketown. I am in your debt"

"There is no debt between friends" Tauriel smiled at her and, at first surprised, she answered the smile and warmly shook hands with her.

"Don't lose time, they will need you in there" Legolas nodded towards the mountain. "And stay safe"

"You too, whatever you are planning to do up North"

Tauriel sat back on the horse behind Legolas and in a matter of seconds, they were off.

"Until we meet again, little warrior!" they shouted in the distance.

"If we do indeed..." she whispered, waving them goodbye.

Then, she turned her heels and took a deep breath. There it was, the kingdom she had been taught to love all her life although she had no memory of it, Erebor.  
>If there hadn't been this quest, she would never have wanted to even get near that place but now she much desired to enter the mountain. Besides other things, Kili was in there and were Kili was, she would be.<p> 


	25. Nothing's ever lost

_**Hi everyone! Sorry, I haven't posted updates for a bit longer than usual but I went away for the weekend and although I meant to, I didn't get the time to post this chapter before...  
>JustaFallacy, sorry I scared you like that! Hopefully, this chapter will be better!<br>The Clown Princess, I am happy that I could make you feel that way  
>Legolas's Girl Forever, I'm so sorry as well, I can't believe you had been waiting all day! Thanks for all the support you are giving me!<br>As always, keep telling me what you thought and enjoy!**_

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter XXIV : Nothing's ever lost<strong>

The news of Luna's death had been brought to the company a couple of hours earlier already and since then, the only sounds that had been heard inside the mountain were the sobs of Ori that came back once in a while, interrupted by moments where he would just sit there, curled up against his brothers, silent tears dropping down on his face.

Bombur had been about to devour a whole meal just before the others had come back without the young girl and afterwards, he had just pushed his full plate away and stared into the emptiness.

Gloin had hugged his brother Oïn when he had come back, happy to see he was alright, and they were still now in each other's arms, afraid that if they let go, the world would collapse around them.

Bofur had said nothing, he was still standing on the spot where he had been when the news had been broken in to the others and once again, his hat was in his hands instead of on his head.

His brother Bifur wished only that the day he had gotten the axe embedded into its skull, it had been planted even deeper to make him forget what death and sorrow meant.

Balin was sitting on a chair, silent tears falling down into his beard and Dwalin was standing besides him, a hand on his shoulder. For the first time in his life, the big warrior didn't look scary or ready for a fight but instead looked as if he had been defeated.

Bilbo was sitting in a corner, his legs folded, knees against his chest. He was so small like that one would barely have noticed him. He couldn't believe what was happening. He had been such a pathetic hobbit at the beginning, when he had joined the quest for the sake of going on an adventure that he had thought would be quite fun. Never had he imagined that they would be confronted to the loss of one of them, especially not Luna.

Thorin, for the first time ever since they had reached the mountain, wasn't contemplating his piles of gold but was instead sitting with his company. He seemed to have come back to his normal self, except that normal Thorin never looked sad and tired like he did now.

The only ones who weren't in the room were Fili and Kili but they weren't far though : Kili had sat on the ground just outside of the door, against the wall and his brother had quickly joined him, not able to stay in the room with the others and knowing that Kili needed him now as much as himself needed Kili.

They were just sitting there, motionless and in silence. Even Kili had no tears left to cry. He looked like an empty shell ; pale and his eyes empty of everything but pain. Even if he had tried, he couldn't have chased the images of Luna going through his mind. He was constantly seeing her smile, her bright ginger curls, her shiny eyes that could read him so well. He could still feel on his lips her sweet taste of honey, berries and that peculiar summer night thing that made him fall for her every time. His mind didn't seem to register the fact that she was gone and was instead showing him all that and making him feel as if he just missed her because she was gone on a trip but that she would come back sometimes soon.

Fili, on the other side, had managed to clear his thoughts well enough to consider the situation. It seemed like time had stopped in the mountain. No one looked ready to do anything or to even move. He only realised now how important Luna had been to them. Behind her fragile innocent girl looks, she had been someone they had looked up to for advice, sometimes even orders. It was not only the line of Durin that she had kept safe all the way here, but the whole company. She had been a discreet but essential presence amongst them ; she had been their captain. And what was Erebor without its captain?

Another hour passed before Thorin stood up at last. They all turned their eyes towards him.

"Come on" he said hoarsely. "Let's get back to work"

Some of the dwarves widened their eyes.

"Thorin…" Balin started.

"Everyone, on your feet. She wouldn't have wanted us to let ourselves go in such a way while we have finally just taken our home back"

His tone was gentle but firm. They looked at each other then did as he said and walked out of the room towards the treasure. They needed to find the Arkenstone.

"Kili, come on" Thorin said, walking past his nephews still sitting outside.

The young dwarf didn't move and Fili shot his uncle an insistent look so he left them.

"He's right, you know" the blonde dwarf told his brother in a still broken voice. "What would she say if she could see us now?"

Again, Kili didn't speak nor move. Fili even wondered if he had heard him.

He sighed and kissed him on the top of his head.

"Come on"

He stood up and pulled his brother up. He thought for a moment that Kili would still not move but the young dwarf let him do and followed when he dragged him along the corridor behind the others. Fili fought back a new wave of fresh tears. He had lost Luna…and he had a feeling he had just lost his brother as well.

* * *

><p>"Any sign of it?" Thorin's voice echoed in the huge halls.<p>

"Nothing yet"

"Nothing here!"

The dwarves were looking for the Arkenstone in the huge piles of gold. That way, they hoped to keep their minds busy. Only Fili and Kili weren't searching. They were standing on the treasure like all the others but didn't have the heart to look for the stone. Kili still looked like a ghost and Fili, despite all his efforts, couldn't bring himself to look to that treasure that he saw like a curse.

"Keep searching!" Thorin barked.

"That jewel could be anywhere"

"The Arkenstone is in these halls. Find it"

"You heard him? Keep looking" Dwalin exclaimed.

"All of you! No one rests until it is found! Fili, Kili, you as well!"

At the sound of his uncle's angry voice in which all traces of sorrow seemed to have now disappeared, Kili snapped his head up towards him, standing on a sort of little balcony.

"One of ours is dead and all you want us to do is to look for a stone?!" he exploded.

They all stopped what they were doing and turned towards the young dwarf who locked eyes with his uncle.

The sickness had come back in those blue eyes of his.

"It is the Arkenstone, it…" Thorin started.

"I don't care what it is!" Kili cut him off. "It's just a rock and you are paying more attention to it than to her!"

"She is dead"

"Because of you! If you hadn't left us in Laketown from the start, she would never have had to face that dragon!"

"She was the one who decided to stay back against my orders, she is responsible for her own death"

Even Fili who had been trying so far to calm his brother down shot a dark look at his uncle. Kili looked shocked for a moment, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard, then he exploded again.

"I forbid you to say such words! She died for you and your bloody mountain that she never cared for! The least you can do is to show some respect for her!"

"I have respect for her and always will" Thorin said, trying to keep a calm voice. "Once we have found the Arkenstone and brought Erebor its former glory, we will make sure that she is never forgotten. We will hold a ceremony and carve her name into stone so that it is never forgotten, I promise you that"

"That is very nice of you" came a voice from the top of a flight of stairs that made them all freeze, "but that won't be necessary"

They all snapped their heads in the direction of the voice and their eyes widened in shock when they saw who it belonged to. For an instant, silence reigned in the halls of Erebor as they all stood motionless, staring at what some of them first thought was a ghost.

Dwalin was the first to break the silence. He raced towards the young girl and wrapped her up in a rib cracking hug. That's all the dwarves needed to be dragged out of their shocked silence and they all started cheering, laughing and running towards the young girl to hug her as well.

Only Kili hadn't moved yet. He was staring at Luna, still thinking that she was a ghost. For a moment, he didn't see her anymore, hidden behind all the others who were hugging her in turns then she reappeared again and their eyes met. A soft smile passed on her lips and his heart that had been falling to pieces suddenly became whole again, and even more, it was pounding in his chest as if trying to get to the girl now although his legs were stuck in the ground.

"Luna…" he muttered and before he could even think of what to do, he raced towards her and took her in his arms to hug her so tightly he lifted her up from the ground.

She wrapped her arms around him and he buried his face against her neck to hide his tears.

"I'm here, Kili" she whispered.

Oh after all, they were tears of joy. He lifted up his head and cupped her face to look at her. She could feel that he was shaking and thought that she had never seen such happiness and emotion on anyone's face.

Then, all of a sudden, without even caring that the whole company were there watching them, he brought her face to his and kissed her.

At first surprised, she quickly kissed him back and they only stopped when they finally heard the others laughing around them. They parted, panting for breaths and finally grew aware of what they had just done in front of the others. Most of the dwarves were cheering, the others widely grinning at them.

Fili had never had such a big smile on his face. He put a hand on Luna's shoulder when she and his brother parted and hugged her as well.

"Thank you" he whispered in her ear. "Thank you for coming back"

They suddenly heard someone clearing his voice and turned to see Thorin standing before them. A flash of worry passed in Fili's eyes and for a moment he feared his uncle's reaction. It was true after all than him and Luna hadn't parted in really good terms…

The dwarf looked at the young girl for a moment then stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, a smile appearing on his face.

"I am glad that you are alive" he simply said and the dwarves started cheering loudly again while Luna humbly bowed her head.

"What happened to you?" Bofur asked.

"Bard said you were dead!" Oïn exclaimed and they all started asking so many questions at once that she could barely understand.

"Our captain is tougher than she looks, you should all know that by now" Balin intervened, cutting short all the questions. "Give her some air, I am sure the lass could do with a rest and a nice meal"

Luna was very grateful for that. She was starving, exhausted and in desperate need of new clothes.

"Do you have any wounds I should take a look at, lass?" Oïn asked, his eyes flashing to her side that, although Tauriel had healed it, was still covered in blood and a bit burnt.

"No, I'm fine, Oïn, thank you" she flashed him a smile then followed Balin up the stairs. Thorin would have probably wanted them to stay to keep looking for the Arkenstone but neither Fili nor Kili really cared and they went with them. Kili took the young girl's hand in his. He still needed to touch her to make sure that she was really there and that she wasn't jut an illusion that could disappear any moment.

* * *

><p>Luna rapidly enquired about what had been happening. Balin told her how they had arrived in Erebor, found the door and send Bilbo first. He briefly related the fight against Smaug and how the dragon had ended up leaving the mountain to go to Laketown. At this point, Fili and Kili continued the story, telling how they had fled the burning town, not forgetting to mention the episode of the orcs' attack. Luna explained what had happened after she had left the boat to follow Bain and how she had ended up washed ashore where Tauriel and Legolas had found her, healed her and gave her a ride.<p>

She then enquired about Thorin and at that, they paused for a moment.

"He…he is not the same" Fili sighed. "All he think of is the Arkenstone"

She saw the sadness in Balin's eyes.

"I am afraid that the dragon sickness has taken him" he sadly said.

She looked down. That is what she had learnt to fear from her father. She remembered that as much as her father had always wanted to reclaim the mountain, whenever he would talk about it, she could catch that little flash of worry passing in his eyes.

"But let's not talk about that. Right now, all that matters is that you are alive, lass" the old dwarf said a bit more cheerfully, squeezing her shoulder. "Come on, let's get you some food, then I'll show you something"

Settling back in a long abandoned kingdom where only a dragon had lived for the past decades meant that they didn't have much supply, yet Luna was so hungry that she was more than happy with the stew that Balin brought her.

Kili chuckled when he saw the delight with which she was eating and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing" he said, a huge smile on his face. "I'm just happy"

That made her blush and she was about to reply when someone suddenly burst in the room and stopped in the doorframe, staring at Luna as if he was in some sort of dream.

"Lu…Luna!" Bilbo gasped.

She was the one who ran towards him and hug him. He stood motionless for a few seconds then awkwardly returned her hug.

"The others said you had come back, I couldn't believe, I…you…" he talked so fast that she chuckled.

"I missed you too, Bilbo" she said and he smiled.

The hobbit's thoughts had been troubled with worry and concern for the past few days but if Luna was back, he felt that everything would be alright.

For at least an hour, they talked lightly of things that for the first time in a very long time had nothing to do with the quest. They talked of the weather, of flowers, of the Blue mountains. They talked of the ones that some of them had left back home, including Fili and Kili's mother Dis. Bilbo told them stories of the Shire and the ways of the hobbits and they told him about dwarves. For the first time in ages, they put asides all their worries and talked only of small things that made them happy and they all felt better than they had for the past few months.

When they finally stopped talking, Balin asked Luna to follow him for he had something to show her and Fili had to convince his brother to let them go alone.

The young girl followed the old dwarf along a series of corridors, sometimes long, sometimes short, wide or narrow. They went up and down many stairs and she was actually amazed at the facility with which he was able to find his way in the labyrinth that was Erebor after so many years.

"Where are we going?" she asked for what seemed the hundredth time.

"You will see" he patiently answered with a little mysterious smile.

They turned one more corner and Balin finally stopped in front of a big beautiful door at the very end of a corridor that lead only to it.

"Where are we?" she asked, having a strange feeling that she had been in this very precise spot before.

"These are the captain's chambers"

She slightly widened her eyes. This meant that her family, her whole family including her mother and Logan, had lived behind these doors. And further more, it meant that as the captain, these were now her chambers.

She turned her eyes to meet Balin's and he gave her a small nod. She swallowed nervously and stepped towards the door. Why was she so hesitant, she did not know. Her hands were slightly shaking when she turned the massive handle and slowly pushed the door open. She paused for an instant. She wasn't sure what she would find behind the door. A place where her family had lived happily, a place that had been home to them and that, if everything had gone as it should have, wouldn't seem so scary to her now.

She took a deep breath and finally entered the place. The first thing she realised was that although she had thought that their long trip along the corridors and the stairs had taken them far within the mountain, she was standing in a room with large windows that let daylight in more than in any other place of the mountain that she had seen so far.

She looked around her. Everything was covered with a thick layer of dust and seemed frozen in time but she could imagine what it must have looked like when there was life in here. She was standing in the first room of a large suite. Old, elegant couches were disposed in the middle of the room with a low table and many bookshelves stood against the walls. Big drapes were hanging in front of the windows and wherever the walls weren't covered in bookshelves, they were covered in beautiful, rich tapestries. She slowly walked around the room, feeling like an intruder in the silence and stillness that had reigned here for so long. She took a look at the tapestries. Although their colours were a bit faded, she could still easily recognise some scenes that represented great deeds done by some of her ancestors. On the low table near the couches, books were piled up as if someone who had been reading had been interrupted and hadn't had the time to put them back on the shelves. One of the books was even open and she carefully took it, blowing the dust away. She recognised at once a story that her father and brothers often used to tell her when she was a child and an absent smile passed on her face.

There were some portraits on the walls as well. Most of them, she didn't recognise those who were represented but she stopped in front of one of her family and she had to repress the tears that were dwelling up in her eyes again. She longly watched their painted faces. There was her father of course, looking younger than she had ever seen him and without the wounds that he had gotten at the battle of Moria where he had lost one of his eyes and one of his legs. Standing on both sides of him were her brothers. Although he was younger then, probably a bit younger than she was today, she had no trouble recognising Lunkin, second son of the family. Her eyes stayed a little bit longer on the other brother, Laïn's first son, the one that she had hardly known, Logan. He was only a bit older than his brother and she had to admit that from the three of them, he was the one who looked most like their father. How close those two had been, she had always only been able to imagine it but she had the feeling that they had been as inseparable as Fili and Kili were. She was too young to realise at the time how Lunkin had really felt when Logan had died but now that she thought of their relationship as one as strong as Fili and Kili's, she wondered how he had coped with it.  
>The last face her eyes landed on was the one of a woman that was sitting on a chair in front of her husband. She only knew her from the descriptions she had so often heard but recognised her mother at once. She absentmindedly raised her arm and brushed the painted face with her fingertips. Although it was just a painting, she could see how beautiful her mother had been. She had sometimes heard being said that she herself had some beauty, but that was nothing compared to her mother. Her long auburn hair was neatly braided in a very nice and noble way, still she looked simple and gentle. Her face was the one of a caring mother who would do anything to protect her children.<br>Luna brushed the tears away from her eyes and turned her glance away until it landed on the other part of the suite that she hadn't visited yet.

She slowly walked to the second room that was separated from the this one by another door that was already open this time. She walked in and found herself standing in a large bedroom ; her parents' bedroom. Its centre was occupied by a massive four poster bed and there were also a large cupboard, a little table with some chairs in a corner, one or two other pieces of furnitures, tapestries on the walls again and carpets on the grounds and she even discovered a little bathroom. What mostly caught her attention tough was the cradle standing at the foot of her parents' bed. She slowly made her way to it, her hands shaking. The sheets were neatly arranged in the cradle and there was a little stuffed fox in it. Everything in both room had looked as if it had been used already : the books that had already been read, the couches on which people had already sat, the bed in which people had slept,…but the cradle was the only thing that looked as if it was still waiting for the first time a baby would be laid down in it.

A tear rolled down her face as she took the stuffed fox in her hand and looked at it. Of course this cradle had never been used…it had been prepared for her, a place for the newborn baby to sleep in peace but unfortunately, a dragon had come before it was possible and the baby had never slept here. She chuckled as she pictured her father placing the stuffed animal in the cradle himself. If Smaug had not come that day, everything would have been different. Her parents would be here right now, her mother quietly reading on a couch while her father would be writing a rapport for the king. She herself would probably have been in her own room to which she would have been moved as soon as she was old enough to sleep by herself, just like her brothers had been when they were younger.

She shook her head to clear her mind of these thoughts and looked around the room again. She needed to get dressed.

* * *

><p>Balin waited for the young girl in the corridor and when she reappeared, he found it hard to repress the little tear in the corner of his eye.<p>

She had changed her torn, burnt clothes for some that she had found there was now wearing some that had belonged to her mother. When she had been through the closet, Luna had found many of her father's weapons and clothes that didn't fit her, as well as many dresses that were unfitted for her job of captain. Fortunately, she had ended up finding a fine burgundy tunic that suited her auburn hair -the same colour as her mother's- beautifully. She had also put on some pants, her boots and a shirt underneath it, as well as a belt to which she fastened a sheath with one of the swords she had found. All her weapons had been taken by the elves in Mirkwood and she hadn't had the time to take any in Laketown with the circumstances so she had been happy to discover that her father had kept his personal little armoury in his closet. She had also put some leather armbands on her forearms and finally, as she had been about to step out of the room, her eyes had landed on a little chest that she hadn't seen before. Opening it, she had found some jewels that had no doubt belonged to her mother. Instantly, she had felt like this was more precious to her than all the gold Thorin had down there in the halls of Erebor. Most of the jewels looked very precious but the one that she had put around her neck was a thin and simple golden chain to which was hanging a small golden disk on which was engraved a rune in khûzdul that meant _forever_ or _eternity_. No doubt it had been a gift from her father to her mother but it meant a lot more to her.

"You look…" Balin started with emotion in his voice and he looked for his words for a few seconds. "You look both beautiful like your mother, and strong like your father. It's like I am staring at the former glorious days of this kingdom, with that little extra thing that was never there before but that you add...and it makes it all just more beautiful"

She gave him a shy smile.

"Come on Balin" she then said a bit more cheerfully, squeezing his shoulder. "Let's bring Erebor back to its golden age"


End file.
